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The  Earth  Girdled 


The  World  as  Seen  To- Day 


BY 


A  Rev.  T.  DeWitt  Talmage,  D.  D. 


T 


ni^ 
.t^^' 


Dr.  Talmage's  description  of 
his  journey  to 

THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS 

THE  SAMOAN  GROUP 

NEW  ZEALAND 

AUSTRALIA.  hNDIA 

CEYLON,  EGYPT 

BIBLICAL  ISLES  OF  THE 
MEDITERRANEAN 

RUSSIA,  ENGLAND 

SCOTLAND,  IRELAND 


♦■  ,*-, 


..^M^^^^ 


Embracing 


SCENES  AND  EXPERIENCES 
AMONG  SEMI-CIVILIZED  AS 
WELL  AS  CULTURED  PEO- 
PLES OF  THE  WORLD. 


MAGNIFICENTLY    ILLUSTRATED    WITH    4OO    PHOTOGRAPHIC   VIEWS 

And  Eight  Plates  in  the  new  Photographic  Color  Process,  representing 
every  feature  of  Dr.  Talmage's  Tour. 


Sold  by  Subscription  Only. 


BUTLER  &  ALGER, 

NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 


,    ■.»„  -.  •* 


Entered^  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1896, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


AU,  RIGHTS   RSSBRVKD. 


THIS  ENGRAVINGS  in  this  volume-  were 
made  from  origitial  photogrnphs,  and 
are  specially  protected  by  Copyright, 
and  notice-is  hereby  given  that  any  ptrrson  or 
persons  guilty  of  reproducing,  or  infringing 
the  Copyright  in  any  way,  will  be  dealt  witb 
according  to  law. 


v>ll  71  J 


At  ♦.hor's  Preface 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 

The  popularity  of  Dr.  Talniage— His  pastorate  in  Brooklyn— The  tabernacles  which  he  has  built — The 
immense  amount  of  -nork  he  does— His  decision  to  visit  foreign  lands — His  friends  determine  to 
celebrate  the  twentj'-fifth  year  of  his  Brooklyn  pastorate — A  wonderful  silver  jubilee — Description  of 
the  ceremonies— An  international  commemoration  of  the  event— Distinguished  participants  from  other 
countries— Speeches  by  the  Doctor — Telegrams  and  cablegrams  of  felicitation— Destruction  by  fire  of 
the  great  Talmage  Tabernacle — A  dreadful  conflagration — An  amazing  record  of  fiery  visitations — An 
interview  with  Dr.  Talmage 35-54 

CHAPTER  I. 

TRANSCONTINENTAL. 

Departure  of  Dr.  Talmage  upon  his  tour  of  the  world — Retrospection  and  war  memories — A  visit  to 
Mammoth  Cave — .\cross  America  to  the  wonderlands  of  Yosemite — The  Yellowstone  Park — Marvels 
of  the  Grand  Canon  -  Some  beautiful  descriptions, 55-6? 

CHAPTER  II. 

FOLLOWING  THE  SUN. 

An  accident — Mount  of  the  Hoh'  Cross — Bethels  of  Nature  -Some  queer  names  that  approach  irreverence 
— At  the  California  Fair — Opening  oration — Campaign  of  the  wilderness — An  incident  in  a  sleeping 
car — An  old  lady's  mistake, 68-73 

CHAPTER  III. 

PARADISE  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 

All  aboard  for  the  South  Sea — A  grizzled  captain  of  the  Pacific — A  stay  on  the  Sandwich  Islands — Some 
important  facts — The  question  of  annexation— Hawaiian  progress  Arrival  at  Honolulu — Cannibalism 
— OflBcial  courtesies — A  sermon  in  the  church  at  Honolulu  -A  veritable  land  of  flowers — Wonders  and 
beauties  of  Nature — The  world's  greatest  volcano — A  convention  of  fiery  mountains — Coronation  of 
Kilauea, 74-79 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PRESIDENT  AND  QUEEN. 

A  visit  to  Queen  Lilliokoulani— Interviewing  dusky  royalty — Reception  by  President  Dole— Establishing 
a  new  government — Both  sides  of  Hawaiian  aiTairs— A  most  instructive  catechism  and  interlocution — 
The  Royalist  view — The  Republican  side  of  the  case — A  rational  conclusion,      80-83 


VI  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 
AN    ISLAND   OF  LEPERS.  page. 

The  world's  heroes  and  heroines— Joseph  Damien,  the  noble  priest— A  tribute  to  his  godliness  and  self- 
sacrifice— Molokoi,  the  pest  island— Regime  among  the  lepers— Cheerful,  though  doomed— Story  of 
William  Ragsdale,  leper — Leprosy  diagnosed — Progress  of  the  disease — Parting  of  the  lepers  from 
their  friends— Moral  lepers, 86-94 

CHAPTER  VI. 
BATTLE  AND  SHIPWRECK. 

A  cyclone  on  the  Pacific — Vision  of  the  Samoan  Islands — Among  the  warring  factions  of  Samoa — Queen 
of  the  islands -Hell  of  the  Pacific— Trade,  gin  and  kava— How  the  latter  is  made — Malietoa,  King  of 
Samoa— Labors  of  the  missionaries— Tattooing  and  ocean  chromatics— Martyrdom  of  fashion — 
Inhabitants  of  the  oceans — The  voice  of  many  waters— An  apostrophe  to  the  sea — A  swocp  of 
tornado 95-103 

CHAPTER  VII. 
UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 

Four  stellar  evangelists— A  tribute  to  the  missionaries— Some  pathetic  stories  of  self-denial  and  suffering- 
Customs  of  the  Tahitans — Significance  of  the  Southern  Cross 104-106 

CHAPTER  VIH. 
ANTIPODEAN   EXPERIENCES. 

Balaklava  on  a  dining  table — Reception  at  Auckland,  New  Zealand — Dashed  with  a  bucket  of  water — 
Early  voyagers— Churches  and  female  suffrage  in  New  Zealand— A  new  interpretation  of  the  story  of 
Adam  and  Eve — Reminiscences  of  war  and  peace  in  New  Zealand — Intercontinental  commerce — 
Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,  explanation  of  the  blunder 107-1 12 

CH.APTER  IX. 
THE  BRIGHT  SIDE  OF   THINGS. 

Dr.  Talmage's  lecture  at  the  Auckland  Opera  House— Perfections  of  nature— Harmonies  that  smother  all 
discords— The  blessings  of  amiability — The  fault-finder— Two  ways  to  read  the  same  letter— The  deaf 
man's  enthusiasm— An  angel  in  a  hospital — How  to  distinguish  a  gentleman  or  lady— Many  apt 
illustrations— Tittle-tattles -A  bear  in  society— Senator  Gruff  and  Speaker  Kindly— Around  the 
hearthstone— The  "eddicated"  legislator — An  interesting  portrait  gallery— The  gloomy  Sunday- 
Habits  diagnosed— Board-fence  literature— The  religion  of  wholesome  exercise— Illustrative  anecdotes 
and  metaphor I  I3~I34 

CHAPTER  X. 
MURDER  AS  A  PASTIME. 

The  aborigines  of  New  Zealand— Massacres  and  cannibalism— Murder  as  a  fine  art— Experiences  of  early 

missionaries— Horrible  customs — An  opportunity  for  lecturers I35~I3° 

CHAPTER  XI. 
WOMEN   IN    NEW  ZEALAND. 

Women's  rights  ascendant— A  great  scarcity  of  women— The  mountains  of  New  Zealand— Wonderful 
natural  terraces— Incomparable  beauties  wrought  by  eruptions— A  burning  mountain— A  nushty 
cataclysm— The  animal  life  of  New  Zealand— The  giant  Moa  bird— An  aviary  of  wondrous  curiosity 
— A  land  of  surprises, I39"I44 

CHAPTER  XII. 
OCEAN   GATE  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

A  rough  sea  experience— The  glorious  prospect  of  Sidney— .A  remarkable  harbor— In  the  streets  of  an 

Australian  city— Sheep  raising  and  agriculture  -  A  post-office  with  chimes, I45-I50 


CONTENTS.  rii 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

GOLD,    GOLD,    GOLD.  page, 

A  descent  into  the  golden  caverns  of  Australia — Some  interesting  facts  about  mining — Fabulous  dividends 

—  Observations  on  the  world's  money — Reckless  speculations — Dr.  Talmage's  interests  in  Australia,     .  151-157 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

A  BAKED   MISSIONARY. 

Among  the  Fiji  Islanders — Harrowing  experiences  of  a  missionary — Strange  customs  of  the  island  savages 
— Banqueting  cannibals — Story  of  the  Haggard  brothers — Dramatic  close  of  a  fraternal  tragedy — The 
hot  blast  of  a  scandal — Savagery  in  civilization — Gridirons  of  persecution 15S-163 

CHAPTER  XV. 

SHEEP  BEFORE  THE  SHEARERS. 

Introduction  of  sheep  into  Australia — Some  astonishing  statistics — Sheep  shearing  by  machinery — 
Tangled  up  with  an  adder — Capital  and  labor — How  strikes  are  avoided — The  lamb  of  sacrifice — The 
shepherds  of  Australia 164-170 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CHAINS  AND  EXILE. 

A  history  of  Botany  Bay — Deportation  of  criminals — Horrors  of  prison  life — Man's  inhumanity  to  man — A 
blasted  parentage — The  evolution  of  honor — From  crime  to  eminent  respectabilitj-— Good  citizens  and 
noble  manhood  in  Australia — The  flower  fields  and  rich  vegetation  of  the  island  continent — A  stroll 
on  the  beach  of  Botany  Bay, 17I-176 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

ZOOLOGICAL  WONDERS. 

One  nugget  of  gold  worth  $50,000 — Australian  cities — Metropolitan  rivalries — Land  of  the  kangaroo — 
Marvelous  contrarieties — Birds  of  wondrovis  habits — The  laughing  jackass — A  pest  of  rabbits — A  word 
about  the  bushrangers — Highwaymen  of  fame  and  how  they  were  extirpated, I77-l8l 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SOME  B:S   BLUNDERS. 

Reception  at  Melbourne — A  lectiu^e  before  an  immense  audience — A  dreadfulh-  mixed  advertisement — The 
University  of  Hard  Knocks— How  fortunes  have  been  made — Varietj-of  occupations — Anah-sisof  pro- 
fessional mountebanks — Encouragement  for  the  persistent — Concentration  of  effort — Amusements — 
Home  ties — Philosoph}- in  the  household — Domestic  economics — Strength  in  a  wife's  fidelity— Secret 
of  contentment — A  striking  debit  account  — Mesmerism  and  credulity — A  happy  night  in  the  country 
— The  old-fashioned  fireplace — Progress,  progress— Storj-  of  the  old  engineer, 1S2-198 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

GATE  OF  DEPARTURE. 

How  Dr.  Talmage  paid  the  expenses  of  his  tour — Preaching  in  the  Town  Hall  of  Melbourne — A  panic 
barely  averted— Some  prominent  persons  the  Doctor  met  in  Australia — The  siege  of  Lucknow 
explained  by  a  participant— Something  about  Sir  Henry  Parkes — Renewing  old  acquaintances — 
Good-bye  to  Australia 199-205 

CH.\PTER  XX. 

THE  ISLE  OF  PALMS. 

The  voyage  to  Ceylon — A  land  of  delight  to  the  sportsman — Nature  in  a  profusion  of  both  animal  and 
vegetable  life — First  sight  of  Ceylon's  emerald  shores — The  harbor  of  Colombo — Visit  to  a  Buddhist 
college — The  noisy  ceremony  in  a  Buddhist  temple — Dr.  Talmage  addresses  a  group  of  natives  in  the 
street — Pillar  of  light  and  colossus  of  gloom, 206-2II 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
RELIGIONS,  GOOD  AND  BAD. 

'  PAGE. 

A  solemn  procession  -  Education  in  Ce)-lon — The  devil-worshipers — Superstition  taking  the  part  of  phy- 
sician—Buried  cities  of  Ceylon — Comparison  between  churches  militant—  Story  of  creation — Different 
sects  among  Christians  confusing  to  Hindoos — Zoroaster,  Buddha,  Mahomet  and  Christ, 212-219 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CINGALESE. 

Busy  scenes  in  the  streets  of  Colombo — Male  and  female  natives  of  Ceylon — Queer  people  and  strange 
customs — Cities  of  the  past — Wonderful  ruins  uncovered  by  archjeologists — Wild  animals  howling 
through  deserted  halls— Sacred  relics  of  Buddha — A  gigantic  tooth — Pearl  fishers  of  Ceylon — The 
largest  ruby  in  the  world, 220-226 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
ISLE  OF  IVORV. 

Munificence  of  Ceylon — Animal  life  of  the  Island — Flying  fo.xes  intoxicated — Land  of  the  elephant — A 
grand  hunt  by  royalty — JIan  killed  by  an  elephant — How  a  war  elephant  captured  a  city — The  deadly 
cobra — Sacredness  of  the  poi.sonous  reptile — .^n  implacable  enemy — Fight  between  a  cobra  and  mon- 
goose— Valuable  trees  of  Ceylon, 227-233 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  ENTRANCE  TO  INDIA. 

Ascent  of  the  Hooghh-  River — Interesting  sights  along  the  shores — Suspicious  of  the  kodak — Provisions 
for  the  hot  climate  of  India — Adaptation  to  changed  conditions — .\  pen  sketch  of  Calcutta  -The  land 
of  idols — An  interview  with  a  fakir— Adroitness  of  the  priest — Headquarters  of  Christian  missions,    .    234-243 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

BURNING  OF  THE  DEAD. 

The  capital  of  Hindooism — The  holy  city  of  Benares — Preparation  of  dead  bodies  for  cremation — Corpses 
committed  to  the  Ganges — Sacrilegious  customs — Marriage  in  India — Treatment  of  wives — Manufac- 
ture of  Hindoo  gods— Condition  of  women  in  India — The  ghatsof  Benares — The  Golden  and  Monkey 
Temples — Wonder  worship  of  the  fakirs — Devils  acting  as  attendants  to  Siva — Sacred  monkeys — 
Sumptuous  marriage  of  two  monkeys— Activity  of  the  missionaries — Their  hard  work  and  self-denial,  244-252 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
GREAT  SNAKES! 

Dreadful  mortality  from  snake-bites — A  natural  enemy  of  the  cobra — Description  of  a  battle  witnessed  by 
Dr.  Talmage — How  a  mongoose  fought  and  killed  a  cobra — A  state  of  nervous  expectancy — Reptiles 
make  repulsive  bedfellows — Worship  of  snakes — Snake  charmers — Some  chilly  experiences — Uncanny 
things  of  the  household, 253-258 

CHAPTER  XXVn. 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF  LUCKNOW. 

A  story  of  cruelty,  heroism  and  horror — The  Sepoy  rebellion— Causes  which  led  to  the  mutiny — Siege  of 
the  Residency — Dr.  Tahnage's  visit  to  the  place  of  slaughter  -  Description  of  a  battle— Braver)'  of  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence — Heroic  death  of  the  General— Pathetic  incidents— Horrible  massacre  of  women 
and  children — Instances  of  wonderful  devotion — "The  Campbells  are  Coming  " — Life  out  of  death,  .    259-267 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

ANOTHER  WOE  IS  PAST. 

An  Iliad  of  woes — A  mutilated  and  groaning  procession — Death  of  Havelock— Life  of  a  Christian  general 
^A  speech  that  fired  a  regiment — The  charge  at  Lucknow— War  to  the  death — Story  of  the 
survivors— Atrocious  customs  of  Hindoo,s — How  the  English  are  regarded  by  the  natives — A 
suggestion  to  the  Home  Government — A  banquet  with  heroes  of  the  India  wars — An  epigrammatic 
order, 268-273 


CONTENTS.  ix 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE  CITY  OF  BLOOD.  ^^^^ 

Story  of  the  Cawnpore  massacre — Nana  Sahib  the  monster — Something  of  his  personaHty — Extract  from  a 
famous  document — Refuge  place  of  the  hunted  Christians— A  brave  defence — The  dance  of  death  — 
Alhired  to  destruction— Inscriptions  of  hope  on  prison  walls— Nana  Sahib's  treachery— Twenty-eight 
boat  loads  of  wonien  and  children  butchered— The  climax  of  diabolism— A  story  that  makes  strong 
hearts  bleed  — Punishment  of  the  butchers— A  visit  to  Memorial  Well— The  end  of  Nana  Sahib -The 
lost  ruby, 274-281 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

MAGNIFICENCE  OF  THE  TAJ    MAHAL. 

The  most  sumptuous  structure  in  the  world — A  sublimation  of  all  architecture— Dr.  Talmage's  visit  to  the 
Taj  Mahal— Rapture  of  garden,  and  ecstasy  of  marble — A  bewilderment  of  splendors— Description  of 
the  marvelous  mausoleum— A  building  that  cost  sixty  millions  of  dollars — Architectural  miracle  of 
all  ages, 282-286 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

DELHI,   THE  ANCIENT  CAPITAL. 

Antiquity  of  Delhi — A  rage  of  malignant  fevers — A  menagerie  in  a  glass  of  water— How  the  natives  butter 
toast — Provisions  for  India  travel — A  dramatic  story  of  flight  and  murder — Heroism  of  the  Wagen- 
treibers  -  Siege  of  Delhi— John  Nicholson,  hero  Description  of  the  fight  at  Cashmere  Gate — Palace  of 
the  Moguls— The  Peacock  Throne,  which  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars — A  coronet  em- 
blazoned with  the  Kohinoor  diamond  — Floors  reddened  with  slaughter — Mosque  of  Jumma  Musjid — 
Relic?  of  Mahomet— Wonders  wrought  at  the  order  of  Shah  Jehan — A  dream  of  the  past 2S7-299 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CITY  OF    ELEPHANTS. 

A  visit  to  Jevpore  — Description  of  the  city  Street  scenes — The  king's  herd  of  elephants — Invasion  of  the 
sand — Temple  of  the  Sun — Zoological  and  botanical  gardens — Palace  of  the  Maharaja — The  Prince 
Jey  Singh — Magnificence  heaped  with  splendors — The  deserted  city  of  Amber — Dr.  Talmage  describes 
his  ride  on  an  elephant's  back — Dazzling  beauties, 300-306 

CHAPTER  XXXIH. 

THE    FIRE  WORSHIPERS— RELIGION   OF  THE    PARSEES. 

Something  about  the  Zend  Avesta— Beliefs  and  superstitions — An  interview  with  a  Parsee  priest — A  lovely 
garden — The  Tower  of  Silence — Disposition  of  the  dead — Vultures  at  the  feast — A  Parsee  priest 
defends  the  custom  of  exposing  corpses — Democracy  of  the  tomb — A  Parsee  wedding  ceremony — 
Condition  of  women  in  India — Christianity  contrasted  with  Hindooism 307-314 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

UNDERSIDE   OF   INDIA. 

A  visit  to  the  Elephants  Caves — Profusion  of  vine  and  flower — A  cobra  by  the  way — A  temple  of  porphyry 
Colossal  statues  of  the  Hindoo  gods— Hindoo  mythology— A  great  congress  of  Gods — Work  of  the 
missionaries, 315-3I& 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

THE   PYRAMID. 

A  stroll  through  Cairo— Strange  emotions — Ascent  of  the  pyramid — A  view  from  the  apex — Description 
of  this  wonder  of  centuries — The  uses  it  serves— Some  reflections — Who  was  Cheops? — The  ravages 
of  time — The  voice  of  God,      319-330 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  ARTERY  OF  EGYPT.  page. 

Wonderful  ancient  river — Efforts  to  discover  its  source — A  fulfillment  of  prophec)' — A  trip  up  the  Nile — 
Relics  of  mightiness — Alexandria  of  the  past — Death  of  Hypatia — Destruction  of  the  city — Spoiling 
the  Egyptians — Bible  records  along  the  Nile — A  land  of  graves — A  stop  at  the  ruins  of  Memphis — 
Temple  of  the  Sun — Hundred  gated  Thebes — Testimony  of  the  dead  city — War  about  a  book — Mar- 
velous Karuac  -  Dust  to  Dust,    331-341 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THE  BRICK-KILNS  OF  EGYPT. 

The  mother  of  nations — Observance  of  old  customs — Brutalities  of  Egyptian  ta.skmasters — Tears  and 
blood — Pharaoh's  works — Taxation  and  slavery — Joseph  the  prime  minister — Moses  a  saviour — God 
works  in  mysterious  ways— Deification  of  the  Nile — Journey  of  the  Israelites — The  Red  Sea  Cataclysm 
— Mohammedanism  in  Egypt— Sarcophagi  of  monarchs — Pharaohs  of  the  present, 342-351 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
THE  ARCHIPELAGO. 

The  Sphinx — Something  grander  than  the  pyramids— Good-bye  to  Eg5'pt — Among  islands  of  the  New 
Testament— In  a  harbor  of  Cyprus— Resurrected  treasures — Wonderful  history  of  Cyprus — Threading 
the  islands  of  the  Grecian  cluster — Island  of  Rhodes — The  great  statue  of  Apollo — Following  St. 
Paul — Isle  of  Patmos— Scene  of  the  apocalyptic  vision — Miserable  loneliness  of  St.  John — Panorama 
of  the  cavern — The  broken  seals 352-358 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
EPHESUS. 

The  martyrdom  of  Polycarp — Bible  porphecy  fulfilled — St.  Paul  and  the  mob — The  wonderful  Stadium — 
St.  Paul  before  the  lions — The  magnificence  of  ancient  Ephesus — Temple  of  Diana — Wonder  upon 
wonder — Architecture  that  dazzles  all  ages — Description  of  the  grandest  statue  ever  set  up — Worship 
of  Diana — Grave  of  the  holy  mother — The  magic  arts — A  treasure  house  of  nations — Decline  of 
Ephesus — Altars,  temples  and  gymnasiums, 359-368 

CHAPTER  XL. 

THE  CROWN  OF  GREECE. 

Arrival  at  Athens — City  of  culture  and  beauty — A  walk  through  the  streets — The  Stadium  at  Athens -A 
slaughter  of  wild  beasts — Description  of  the  Acropolis — Victor}-  without  wings — Marvelous  Pantheon — 
Oh,  wonderful  works  of  men — St.  Paul  on  Mars  Hill — A  splendid  comparison — Resurrection  and 
judgment — An  astounding  scene — Voice  of  Mars  Hill — Vanished  glories— Reminiscences, 369-379 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

POMPEII. 

Volcanic  illumination—  The  mysteries  of  Vesuvius — At  the  corpse  of  a  dead  city — Description  of  Pompeii — 
Temples  of  the  buried  city — Pomp  and  beauty  overwhelmed  in  a  night — Review  of  Pompeii  in  its 
glory — The  last  day — Vesuvius  in  awful  eruption — Avalanche  of  ashes  and  fiery  cinders — A  scene  of 
unparalleled  fury — Resurrection  of  the  buried  city — Reading  the  story  of  the  ruins— Disentombment 
of  galleries,  rare  specimens  and  bodies — The  sins  of  a  city — Verification  of  the  prophecies— America 
for  God, 380-387 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
THE  COLOSSEUM. 

A  visit  to  the  eternal  city — In  the  footsteps  of  Paul — The  Mamertine  dungeon — A  miracle  of  architecture — 
Description  of  the  Colosseum — Gladiatorial  combats — Bloody  beasts  and  dj-ing  men — Horror  upon 
liorror — Heroism  of  Telemachus — Savagery  of  modern  civilization— Evils  of  present  day  politics — 
Cruelties  and  oppressions — Solitude  of  the  ruined  Colosseum — Monarchs  arraigned  before  judgment 
-Mercy 38S-396 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

MY  RECEPTION   IN  THE   RUSSIAN   PALACE.  page. 

Misconceptions  of  Russians  -  Slanders  and  vituperation  —Cause  of  this  malignant  falsification— The  cholera 
incubus— Sample  falsehoods— A  plain  question — Russia  no  worse  than  other  nations — An  optimistic 
picture— Right  ideas  about  Russia— How  that  great  country  has  ever  been  America's  best  friend — 
Meaning  of  Russian  fleets  in  American  waters— Importance  of  cultivating  Russia's  friendship— Calum- 
nies about  the  Emperor— Some  apt  comparisons— Emancipation  of  the  serfs— Merciful  disposition  of 
Alexander  II-  The  devil  of  persecution— Falsehoods  about  Siberia  and  the  convicts— Trial  by  jury — 
Charitable  organizations— A  charity  that  challenges  all  history — Invited  to  meet  the  Emperor— An 
interview  in  the  palace  of  Peterhof — Emperor  Alexander's  cordial  hospitality— Description  of  Alex- 
ander III— The  Empress  and  her  children— A  visit  to  Moscow— Surprising  things  in  that  ancient 
city -Accession  of  Nicholas  the  Second, 397-430 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

GOSPEL  OF  BREAD. 

The  famine  in  Russia -Dr.  Talmage  takes  a  ship-load  of  flour  to  St.  Petersburg— His  reception  by  the 

Mayor — Food  for  the  stars-iug— Presentation  of  a  superb  tea-set 431-432 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

GREAT  BRITAIN. 

Painting  in  cheerful  colors— Good  words  about  England— A  generous  welcome— Samples  of  English 
weather— A  criticism  on  growlers— Disagreeable  persons  are  everywhere— Muscle  and  digestion — 
Down  in  a  coal  mine  — Something  about  men  who  delve  in  the  earth— Ruins  of  Kirkstall  Abbey — 
Spirits  of  the  past— A  tragic  romance— An  interview  with  Gladstone— A  ramble  with  the  grand  old 
man  through  Hawarden  forest— Story  of  a  wounded  soldier— Discussion  on  home  rule— John  Ruskin 
— An  accidental  meeting  with  the  great  author — Influence  of  his  writings 433-450 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 

SCOTLAND. 

Charming  scenerv-— Baptism  of  a  Scotch  baby— Robert  McCheyne,  the  great  preacher— Remarks  about 
the  Scotch  character— John  Bright— Our  exports  to  the  British  Isles— The  Highland  show— A  sail  on 
the  River  Tay — Wishart  and  the  assassin — Heroes  of  the  past — Ruins  of  famous  castles — False  opin- 
ions about  aristocracy — Interesting  facts  about  famous  persons— The  midnight  charities  of  London — 
Lord  Kintore  among  the  poor— A  visit  to  Wales— Land  of  unpronounceable  names— Literature  of  the 
Welsh— In  a  car  with  a  maniac— An  hour  of  terror— Some  diff'erences  between  America  and  Eng- 
land—English homes  and  resorts— A  tribute  to  the  Rev.  Robertson— The  Isle  of  Wight— Famous 
places  of  England — Ruins  of  Uvicanium— Wonderful  recoveries — A  queer  story  about  Peverel  and 
the  devil— A  trip  to  Ireland— The  magnetic  eloquence  of  O'Connell — Ireland  of  to-day  compared  with 
Ireland  of  the  last  century— Tom  Galvin,  the  hangman— Tiger  Roche's  career— A  better  time  com- 
ing—Belfast and  Londonderry— The  giant's  amphitheatre  and  Dunkerry  cave— Traditions  and 
description  of  the  Giant's  Causeway 451-485 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 

ON  THE  HOME  STRETCH. 

Life  on  the  ocean  wave— The  discomforts  of  traveling— Some  thanks  for  hardships  endured— A  pajan  of 
the  sea— Impressions  of  the  journey— Troubles  that  beset  us— Tales  of  travelers- America  the  land 
of  blessings— Labor  in  America  compared  with  that  in  other  countries— Republic  America  contrasted 
with  Monarchical  Europe— Princely  salaries  to  sinecures -The  Thanksgiving  table  being  set  in  Amer- 
j<^a— Tlie  civic  and  the  military,  the  political  and  the  religious— Ecstatic  sight  of  native  land— New 
York  harbor— Conclusion  of  the  journey— An  apostrophe  to  home 486-503 


My  Palanquin  and  Bearers frontispiece. 

Royal  Elephant  Carriage  Used  by  Dr.  Tahnage  iij 

India,    .    .  xii 

Carved  Representation  of  Heathen   Deity,     .    .    .        xvi 
Carving  in   Balcony,   Kyaung,   at   Mgingydn,   East 
idia 


Id 


34 


Celebration  of  the  Silver  Anniversary  of  Dr.  Tal- 

niage's  Brooklyn  Pastorate, ....  37 

Mv  Traveling  Companion,  Frank  DeWitt  Talniage,  48 

The  Tabernacle  Before  the  Fire, 49 

Grand  Caiion  of  the  Colorado 52 

Photograph  of  Dr.  Tahnage, 55 

Lookout  Mountain, 57 

River  St3-x,  Mannnoth  Cave, 59 

Main  Street,  Salt  Lake  Cit}-,      60 

Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross 61 

Denver,  from  the  Capitol,                       63 

Broadmoor  Casino,  Colorado  Springs,             ....  64 

Pulpit  Rock,  Utah 65 

Grand  Caiion  of  the  Colorado, 66 

The  Devil's  Slide,  Utah 67 

The  Breaking  Railroad  Bridge, 68 

ClitT  House,  and  Seal  Rocks 70 

Chinatown,  San  Francisco 71 

Captain  Morse,  of  the  "Alameda," 74 

The  "  Alameda "  Passing  the  Golden  Gate,          .    .  75 

Dr.  Tahnage  on  the  "  Alameda," 76 

Harbor  of  Honolulu 77 

Night  Scene  in  the  Crater  of  Kilauea 78 

Ex-Queen  Lilliokoulani 80 

S.  P.  Dole,  President  of  Hawaii, 81 

National  Palace,  Honolulu, 82 

Main  Street,  Honolulu, 84 

Hawaiian  Girls,                          85 

Princess  Napilonius'  Residence,   ...           ....  87 

Remains  of  King  Kalakanu  L3'ing  in  State,     ...  88 

Statue  of  Kaniehameha  I.,      89 

Kaufohe  Park,  Honolulu, 90 

Captain  Cook's  Monument, gr 

Rice  Cultivation,  Hawaii, 92 

A  Native  Feast,  Hawaii 94 

An  Aspirant  to  the  Throne  of  Samoa,     .....  96 

Samoan  Residence,       98 

King  and  Queen  of  Samoa, 99 

Burmese  Mother  and  Son,  Showing  Sample  of  Tat- 
tooing .Smong  Uncivilized  Races, 100 

Samoan  Girls  Making  Kava lor 

Samoan  Girls  Playing  Cards 102 

Samoan  Country  Residence 103 

A  Maori  Chief,  New  Zealand, 104 

A  Maori  Dwelling 105 

Rhinoceros  Hunters, ,       loS 


PAGE. 

Maori  Couple,  New  Zealand no 

Suburbs  of  Auckland, in 

Maori  Widows,  ....        114 

Fijian  Houses, 116 

Milford  Sound,  New  Zealand, iiS 

A  Lady  of  the  .-Archipelago, 1 20 

Banana  Grove,  Fiji,           122 

New  Zealand  Scenery, 124 

Shipping  an  Elephant 126 

Public  Buildings,  Sidney,  Australia 130 

Sidney  Tram  Car,          ...            134 

Dr.  Tahnage  Among  South  Sea  Savages 138 

A  Beautiful  Woman  of  the  East, 140 

Mount  Camamera  in  Eruption 141 

The  Pink  Terraces, 143 

Australian  Aborigines, 146 

Tattooed  Girl  of  bceanica, 147 

Barron  River  Native, 148 

Sidney  Head,  Sidney  Harbor, .  149 

Dr.  Tahnage  Preparing  to  Go  Down  ii  to  a  Gold 

Mine, 151 

Loddon  Falls,  New  South  Wales, 153 

Cascade,  Loddon  River, 155 

Tasman's  Arch, 156 

Corabboree  Dance,  Australia, 159 

Singalese  Beggar,       i6l 

Work  in  the  Shearing  House 165 

Shearing  Sheep, 167 

Sheep  Range,  Australia,      169 

Old  Penal  Colony  of  Australia,                      .    .        .    .  172 

A  Blind  Hindoo  Boy  Reading  with  His  Fingers,     .  173 

Sidney  Gardens,  Australia, ...  175 

Sidney  Harbor 177 

Kangaroos,      .        .    .  •. 178 

Laughing  Jackass, 179 

Town  Hall  Organ,  Melbourne, 183 

General  Post-ofEce,  Sidney 1S5 

Town  Hall,  Sidney 187 

Native  Sailors  of  the  South  Seas 189 

Jenolan  Caves,  India 191 

Burmese  Puray,  Danced  Before  Prince  Albert  Vic- 
tor, at  Mandalay, 193 

A  Princess  of  Burmah  in  Court  Costume 195 

David  Jamal,  Dr.  Talmage's  Dragoman,     ....  197 

The  Elephant  Bath,      ". 198 

Sir  Henr^'  Parkes, 200 

The  Relief  of  Lucknow 201 

Dr.  Talmage  on  Deck  of  Ceylon  Steamer.     ....  203 

Amulets  Taken  from  the  Body  of  Tippo  Sahib,     .    .  204 

Commander-in-chief  of  the  Burmese  Army,     .    .    .  205 

Weighing  the  Emperor,  .               207 

Modern  Crucifixion  of  Criminals  in  India,    ....  208 


(xiii) 


XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Colossal  Idol  of  Buddha 209 

The  Wonderful  Iron  Pillar 213 

An  Incident  of  Railroading  in  India 215 

Famine  Scene  in  an  Indian  Cit_v 217 

Slate  Horse  of  India, 218 

A  Brahmin  Wedding,  .    .                221 

Serpent  Pagoda 223 

The  Worshipful  Tooth  of  Buddha 224 

Worship  at  Sunset  on  the  Saanii   Rock 225 

Return  to  the  llonastery  of  Burmese   Priests   After 

Begging  Their  Daily  Food,         226 

The  'War'Elephant,       .        .    .                229 

Lower  Flight  of  Stone  Steps,  Mihinteale,     ....  230 

Shrine  on  the  Summit  of  Adonis  Peak, 232 

Group  of  Hindoo  Girls  at  their  Toilet, 233 

A  Devotee  Enduring  the  Fire 234 

Shipping  in  the  River  Hooghly 235 

Bishop  Heber's  Statue,  Calcutta, 236 

Nepalese  Ladies  in  Costume,          237 

Site  of  the  Black  Hole,              23S 

Group  of  Devotees  in  a  Temple 239 

A  Burmese  Cart,         .            .    .        240 

The  Three  Cars  of  Juggernaut 241 

Carved  Images  of  Dagon, 242 

Corpse  in  the  Ganges  and  Cremation  on  the  Bank,  244 

Our  Camel  Carriages,    .    .             .    .                        ...  245 

Preparation  for  the  Immolation  of  a  Widow,    .    .    .  246 

Monkey  Temple,  Benares,               247 

Brahma  as  the  Four-faced  Buddha, 24S 

Golden  Temple,  Benares 249 

Gosain  Temple,  Benares.     .    .            251 

The  King  of  Nepaul  and  Commanding  Generals,  .  252 

The  Mongoose 253 

Festival  of  the  Serpents, 254 

Indian  Conjuring  Trick, 255 

A  Hindoo  Juggler,         .        256 

Fakir  of  the  Immovable  Foot, 257 

Fakir  of  the  Long  Nails, 257 

Fakir  Hanging  to  a  Limb,      257 

Hindoo  Stone  Carvers, 258 

Lieutenants  Havelock  and  Fuselien,  ...        ...  260 

Relief  of  Lucknow 261 

General  Havelock  Greeted  by  Those  He  Saved,     .  262 

Signatures  of  the  Heroes  of  Lucknow, 263 

Prayer  by  the  Wayside 264 

Hindoo  Priest  at  His  Devotions 265 

Nepalese  Generals  and  Chinese  Embass}-,     ....  267 

Sir  Henry  Havelock 26S 

The  Viceroy's  Elephants, 269 

Sir  Colin  Campbell, 271 

A  Hindoo  Girls'  School 272 

Hindoos  Telling  Their  Beads 273 

Nana  Sahib 275 

Scene  of  the  Cawnpore  Massacre, 277 

Memorial  Well,  Cawnpore, 280 

On  the  Banks  of  the  Ganges, 281 

The  Taj   Mahal 282 

Gateway  to  Garden  of  the  Taj, 2S4 

Tomb  of  the  Queen  in  the  Taj, 2S5 

The  Fort  at  Agra,  ...                 289 

Akbar's  Palace,  the  Throne  Room 290 

Rebel  Sepoys  at  Delhi, 291 

Shooting  Prisoners  from  a  Gun 292 

Through  the  Streets  of  Cawnpore, .    .  293 

Chamber  of  Blood,  Cawnpore,         . 295 

Audience  Room,  or  Peacock  Throne  Chamber,  .  .  297 
Buddhist  Sacred  Cave  and  Carved  Figure  of  Gau- 

daura 299 

Shira's  Bull,  Mysore 300 

Dr.  Talmage  and  Son  on  an  Elephant, 301 

The  Prince  of  Wales  Starting  on  a  Hunt 302 

Burmese  Cart 304 


PAGE. 

Sir  J.  Fayrer, 306 

Par-see  Tower  of  Silence,  Bombay 307 

Plan  of  a  Tower  of  Silence, 309 

Car  of  Juggernaut 310 

A  Parsee  Wedding 312 

Colonnade  at  Mahableshwar 313 

Inspection  Day  at  an  East  India  Penitentiary  .    .    .  314 

Entrance  to  the  Elephanta  Caves 315 

A  Wall  Inside  the  Elephanta  Caves,        316 

Black  Marble  Elephant,           317 

Suez  Canal  and  Suez  Town, , 319 

The  Port  of  I.smailia, 320 

Great  Pyramid  and  Sphinx, ....  321 

Pompey's  Pillar,  Alexandria, 322 

City  of  Alexandria,  Place  of  the  Consuls,     ....  523 

Caravan  on  the  Waj-  to  Mecca, 324 

Dr.  Talmage  on  the  Summit  of  the  Pyramid,  .    .  325 

Great  Pyramid  of  Cheops 326 

Cake  Vendors  of  Cairo,               327 

Interior  of  the  Temple  of  Denderah, 32S 

Temples  of  Luxor 329 

Shadorf,  for  Raising  Water  from  the  Nile,    ....  332 

Moorish  Ladies'  Apartment 333 

A  Dahabeah,  or  Nile  Boat, 334 

Natives  of  the  Upper  Nile  at  Prayer, 335 

Barrage,  or  Wingdam,  on  the  Nile,              336 

Rameseum  and  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  Thebes,  .    .    .  337 

Obelisk  and  Propylon  of  the  Temple  of  Luxor,      .  338 

Goddesses  Crowning  Pharaoh, 339 

The  Colossi  of  Thebes, 340 

General  View  of  Luxor, 342 

Island  of  Philae, 343 

Propylon  of  the  Temple  Denderah, 344 

Pharaoh's  Bed,  Philae 345 

Mummy  of  Raineses  III 346 

View  of  the  Ruins  at  Philae, 346 

Tombs  of  the  Caliphs.  Cairo, 347 

Avenue  of  Sphinxes.  Karnak, 348 

Deck  Scene  on  a  Dahabeah, 349 

Great  Hall  of  Columns,  Karnak 35a 

Propylon, of  the  Temple  of  Isis,  Philae, 351 

Greek  Ceremony  of  Washing  the  Feet 353 

Church  of  San  Georgio  Maggiore,  Venice,   .        .    .  355 

Venice,  Pearl  of  the  Adriatic, 357 

Ephesus  Restored,     .    .        360 

Theatre  of  Dionv'sius,  Ephesus 361 

Statue  of  Diana  in  the  Ephesian  Temple,      ....  363 

Whirling  Dervishes  of  Con.stantinople,       365 

Ruins  of  the  Gymnasium,  Ephesus, 366 

Ancient  Corinth,  Restored, 367 

Paul  Exhorting  Felix,         370 

General  View  of  Athens, 371 

View  of  the  Acropolis, 372 

Paul  Discoursing  with  Aquila  and  Priscilla 373 

Ancient  Athens,  Restored, 375 

Facade  of  the  Parthenon, 376 

Prison  of  Socrates,  Athens 377 

Theatre  of  Bacchus 37S 

Eruption  of  Vesuvius,     .        381 

Street  of  the  Tombs,  Pompeii,                  382 

Cast  of  a  Human  Body,  from  Pompeii, 383 

Crater  of  Vesuvius 385 

Interior  of  the  Museum,  Pompeii 386 

Ruins  of  the  Colosseum,  Rome, 389 

Temple  of  Miner\'a,  Rome,            390 

Altar  to  the  T'nkuown  God,  Rome,          ...  391 

Interior  of  the  Chapel  Where  Peter  Was  Crucified,  392 

General  View  of  Rome, 393 

Excavations  of  the  Forum,  Rome, 394 

The  Vatican,  Rome, 395 

House  of  the  Romanoflfs.  Moscow 397 

Louis  Klopsch,  Editor  Christian  Herald 398 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV 


PAGE. 

The  Imperial  Famih', 399 

Dowager  Empress  and  Her  Daughter, 400 

A  Winter  Day  in  St.  Petersburg, 401 

Prefect  of  St.  Petersburg, 402 

Arch  of  Triumph,  Moscow, 403 

Dr.  Talmage  Leaving  the  City  Hall,       404 

Russian  Military  Types, 405 

Fortress  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul, 406 

Public  INIuseum,  Moscow, 407 

The  Way  I  Was  Received  at  St.  Petersburg,     .    .    .  408 

A  Frienily  Talk  with  the  Czar 409 

Convoy  of  Condemned,  Russia 410 

My  Reception  and  Interview  with  the  Czar,      .    ...  411 

Winter  Palace,  St.  Petersburg 412 

The  Baths,  Peterhof, 413 

St.  Isaac's  Cathedral,  St,  Petersburg,      414 

Basin  of  Neptune,  Peterhof, 415 

Jew  Merchants 416 

Nicholas  II.,  ICmperor  of  Russia,      417 

Tower  of  Souk areff,  Moscow,            41S 

Scenes  of  Dr.  Talmage's  Reception, 419 

House  of  Peter  the  Great, 420 

Fountain  in  the  Garden,  Peterhof, 421 

General  View  of  the  Kremlin,  Moscow, 422 

The  Great  Bell,  Moscow 423 

Great  Votive  Church,  Moscow, 424 

Palace  and  Treasury,  Moscow 425 

Gold  Enameled  Tea  Service, 426 

Temple  of  Our  Saviour,  Moscow 427 

Autographs  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,    ....  42S 

Cathedral  of  Ostaukino,  Moscow,    .    .            ....  429 

Dr.  Talmage  Responding  to  Speech  of  Welcome,  .  431 

Buckingham  Palace,  Front  View, 433 

Buckingham  Palace,  Side  View, 434 

Buckingham  Palace,  Throne  Room, 435 

Marlborough  House,  London, 436 

A  Corner  in  the  House  of  Commons 438 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  from  Bankside, 440 

Front  View  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 441 

Fleet  Street  and  St.  Paul's,  London,      443 

Hawarden   Castle, 444 

Gladstone  in  Hawarden  Wood 445 

Rc.  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Gladstone 447 


PAGE. 

John  Ruskin,  As  I  Saw  Him 449 

House  of  John  Knox,  Edinburgh 452 

Knox  Church,  where  I  Preached 453 

Balmoral  Castle 454 

The  Queen's  Cameron  Highlanders, 455 

Ross  Castle 456 

Holyrood  Castle,        457 

Robert  Burns'  Cottage 458 

Downe  Castle  and  Gallows  Tree, 459 

Melrose  Abbev, 460 

The  Old  Curiosity  Shop, 461 

Victoria  Embankment, London, 463 

Westminster  Abbey,  London,    .    .  464 

W'estniinster  Bridge  and  Clock  Tower 465 

Coronation  Chair,  Westminster 467 

The  Beach  at  Brighton, 469 

Tower  of  London, 470 

London   Bridge 471 

Tower  Bridge,  London, 473 

Victoria  Embankment  Gardens 475 

Piccadilly  Circus,  London, 476 

Queenstown  Harbor,  Ireland, 477 

View  of  Lake  Killarney, 478 

Blarney  Castle,  Showing  Blarney  Stone, 479 

Fingal's  Cave,  Staffa,  Ireland, 480 

Eton  College 481 

Stoke  Pogis  Chiirch  and  Churchj-ard, 483 

North  Front  Windsor  Castle 484 

Balliol  College,  Oxford 486 

Bank  of  England 487 

Crystal  Palace 488 

Law  Courts,  London,  ....  489 

Dr.  Talmage's  Farewell  Meeting  at  Hyde  Park,     .  491 

Conway  Castle,  North  Wales, 492 

St.  James'  Palace,  London 493 

Nelson's  Monument,  Trafalgar  Square, 494 

Room  in  which  Shakespeare  W'as  Born 495 

Open  Air  Services  Before  John  Wesley  Church,  .    .  497 

Spurgeon's  Tabernacle, 498 

New  York  Bay  and  Castle  Garden 499 

Drawing  Room  in  Dr.  Talmage's  House, 501 

Sleeping  Room  in  Dr.  Talmage's  House 502 


EIGHT  PflOTOGRflPflS  IN  COLORS. 


1.  My  Palanquin  and  Bearers. 

2.  Tea  Gatherers. 

3.  Mohammedan  Rajah  and  Court  Officers. 

4.  Burmese  Country  Carriage. 


5.  King  Thebaw's  Prima  Donna. 

6.  Children  of  the  Orient, 

7.  Golden  Pagoda. 

8.  Palace  of  an  Indian  Queen. 


Choice  Initial  Letters. 


Presentation  Plate. 


AuTHO-R'S  Preface. 


nHE  preface  is  something  that  must  be  done.  A  book  without  a  preface  is  a 
house  without  a  knob  on  the  door,  and  without  front  steps.  A  book  cannot 
look  )-ou  full  in  the  face  until  it  is  in*"roduced  by  such  a  prefix.  But  in  the 
millennium  there  will  be  no  prefaces.  The}'  belong  to  the  imperfect  ages.  If  a  book 
be  good  it  needs  no  preface,  and  if  it  be  useless  or  bad  no  amount  of  literary  genu- 
flexions at  the  start  can  save  it.  Reside  that,  if  the  author  tells  in  a  preface  what  he  is 
going  to  do  in  the  subsequent  pages,  he  robs  them  of  novelty.  If  \'ou  want  to  know  what 
this  booK  is,  read  it.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  an  account  of  one  journey  around  the 
world,  with  here  and  there  a  scene  from  my  previous  journeys  to  complete  the  links  of 
the  story. 


//-..^t^  7' 


Washington,  D.  C, 
March  2,  iSg6. 


(33) 


RBC 

Nrll 


T^ublisher's    l^reface 


..eoncerning... 


Dr.  Talmage's  American  Celebration  and  "Reception  Before  Starting 

on  His   Eartin-Girdling  Tour. 


OHERE  are  heroes  of  peace  greater,  because  more  glorious  in  their  usefulness, 
than  demi-gods  of  war.  He  who  builds  is  better  than  he  who  destroys ;  that 
one  who  binds  up  a  wound  is  nobler  than  he  who  strikes  down.  The  truly- 
illustrious,  the  lordly,  the  blessed,  are  they  who  add  to  the  joys  of  life,  whose 
lives  are  at  once  song,  fragrance,  sunshine  and  example.  It  is  infinitely  better  to  endure 
for  all  time  in  the  hearts  of  men,  than  to  rest  under  the  most  splendid  monument  that  pride 
can  rear  to  genius,  for  one  speaketh  continually  while  the  other  becomes  dumb  and  forgotten 
under  the  rust  of  age.  A  man's  reputation  should  be  measured  not  only  by  the  esteem  of 
his  contemporaries,  but  also  by  his  deeds  and  works  for  mankind,  which  will  live  after 
him.  By  such  an  appraisement  of  man's  value,  the  Rev.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage  must  be 
regarded  as  a  conspicuous  example  of  worldly  benefice  as  well  as  an  instrument  in  God's 
hands  for  infinite  good.  His  life  is  like  a  benediction,  for  he  makes  every  man  his  brother ; 
he  scatters  kindness  as  the  sower  scatters  seed  ;  he  is  a  Samaritan  among  the  need}-,  a 
defender  of  the  weak,  a  Samson  that  gives  battle  to  the  lions  of  evil.  People  often  ask, 
"  To  what  denomination  does  Dr.  Talmage  belong  ? "  The  answer  must  be  given  that 
while  he  is  a  member  of  one  church  he  is  a  clergyman  of  all  churches  that  teach  Christ. 
Not  one  who  prepares  the  way  as  did  the  Baptist,  nor  as  one  who  establishes  churches  as 
did  Paul,  but  he  is  a  disciple  and  evangelist ;  a  teacher  not  of  doctrines,  but  of  brotherhood  ; 
who  talks  to  the  human  heart,  and  who  dispenses  joy  and  love  to  all  people,  whose  taber- 
nacle is  the  heavens  above,  and  the  world  his  congregation. 

For  twenty-five  years  Dr.  Talmage  ministered  to  a  charge  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn, 
New  York.  He  went  to  that  place  a  stranger,  and  lie  began  preaching  there  to  small 
audiences,  but  his  friends  multiplied,  his  hearers  rapidly  increased  in  numbers,  his 
popularity  grew  apace,  and  very  soon  the  church  in  which  he  discoursed  was  found  to  be 
too  small  to  accommodate  all  who  came  to  hear  him.  A  larger  one  was  erected,  but  in  a 
few  years  it  too  became  inadequate,  both  in  size  and  convenience.  A  fire  destroyed  it, 
without  loss  of  life,  and  then  a  larger  tabernacle  was  built,  but  his  congregation  increased 
so  rapidly  that,  large  as  the  structure  was,  it  could  not  contain  all  that  would  hear  him. 
A  second  time  the  tongue  of  flame  touched  and  consumed  his  church  edifice,  but  fire 
purifieth,  and  with  unruffled  resolution,  unquenchable  and  unconquerable  spirit,  Dr.  Talmage 
took  upon  himself  the  burden  of  raising  a  sum  of  money  with  which  to  build  the  largest 
tabernacle  in  America ;  a  temple  of  worship  that  would  give  opportunity  to  thousands  who 
had  been  denied  the  privilege  of  listening  to  his  eloquence ;  large  enough  not  onlv  to 
receive  his  regular  congregation,  but  sufficiently  ample  to  also  hold  the  great  number  of 

(35) 


30  THE  EARTH  GH^DLED. 

strangers  who,  \isiting  New  York,  sought  the  chance  of  hearing  the  most  famous  divine 
of  the  century.  In  this  work  of  designing,  and  of  raising  funds.  Dr.  Tahnage  contributed 
all  the  energies  of  his  tongue,  pen  and  means.  He  preached,  lectured,  wrote  and  appealed ; 
every  day  of  the  week  his  efforts  were  e.xerted  in  this  splendid  enterprise.  No  other  man 
gave  so  liberally  as  he,  both  of  work  and  money,  toward  carrying  his  conception  of  a 
colossal,  grand,  triumphant  tabernacle  to  success.  At  last  the  great  edifice  was  completed  ; 
the  most  glorious  hour  of  his  life  was  when  the  oratorio  of  dedication  resounded  through 
its  spacious  naves,  and  the  world  accepted  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle  as  a  monument  to  the 
indefatigable  energies  and  wide-reachi::g  influence  of  Dr.  Tahnage,  as  well  as  a  magnificent 
temple  for  the  worship  of  God,  the  doors  of  which  were  thrown  wide  open  to  people  of 
every  faith,  and  in  which  charit\'  and  brotherliood  had  an  nnalterable  abiding  place. 

Dr.  Tahnage  has  always  been  an  immense  worker;  who  that  has  read  his  sermons,  has 
read  his  contributions  to  the  press,  has  read  the  books  which  pour  from  his  pen,  has  seen,  or 
can  understand,  the  numerous  duties  which  devolve  upon  him  as  pastor  of  the  largest 
congregation  in  America ;  the  lectures  which  he  delivers,  the  traveling  that  he  is  forced  to 
do,  the  entertainments  which  his  position  requires  him  to  attend,  the  correspondence  which 
occupies  so  much  of  his  time  ;  who  that  considers  all  this,  will  fail  to  wonder  how  he 
manages  to  do  so  much,  and  above  all  how  human  mind  can  accomplish  what  he  does  so  well. 
But  there  is  a  limit  even  to  his  marvelous  spirit  and  endurance,  though  his  genius  seems  to 
rise  above  all  physical  limitations.  He  felt  not  the  heavy  hand  of  years  so  much  as  the 
burdens  of  manifold  exactions  and  increasing  requirements.  When,  tlierefore,  the  twenty- 
fiftli  year  of  his  pastorate  in  Brooklyn  was  about  to  close — twenty-five  years  of  unremitting 
laboi  that  would  have  crushed  any  man  of  less  resolution — Dr.  Tahnage,  through  the  urgings 
of  his  own  congregation  as  much  as  by  reason  of  an  appreciation  of  his  own  physical  needs, 
resolved  to  take  an  outing.  He  cannot  endure  rest,  but  he  longed  for  recreation,  for  a  change 
from  tlie  exhausting  duties  which  had  enslaved  him  for  many  years,  and  for  the  freshness  of 
God's  mornings  in  the  wide  pastures  of  the  world.  So,  his  determination  having  been  made 
to  take  a  vacation,  he  resolved  to  make  a  tour  of  the  globe  ;  not  as  a  tourist,  but  rather  as  a 
pastor  who  visits  his  communicants,  for  as  Dr.  Tahnage  has  for  a  long  while  preached 
through  the  newspapers  to  more  than  twenty--five  millions  of  persons  every  week,  and  in 
nearly  all  the  languages  of  civilization,  wherever  he  might  tra\-el  he  would  be  certain  to 
find  many^  who  are  regular  readers  of  his  sermons. 

Wlien  the  purpose  of  Dr.  Tahnage  became  known,  it  was  immediately  proposed  by 
man>-  prominent  citizens  of  Brooklyn  to  fittingly  celebrate  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
his  pastorate  in  that  city.  The  suggestion  was  hailed  with  such  universal  approval  that 
the  movement  spread  all  over  the  country,  and  thence  to  Europe,  and  to  all  Christendom, 
until,  to  satisfy  the  demand,  the  demonstration  took  the  fonn  of  a  national  and  international 
reception,  which  was  to  be  given  in  the  Great  Tabernacle  on  the  tenth  and  eleventh  of 
May,  1894,  three  days  before  the  day  he  had  appointed  for  starting  upon  a  circumnavi- 
gation of  the  earth. 

For  this  magnificent  jubilee  commemoration,  which  was  at  once  ovation  and  pa;an,  the 
great  church  building  was  splendidly  and  elaborately  decorated  with  banners  and  flags.  On 
the  front  of  the  great  organ  was  a  large  portrait  of  Dr.  Tahnage  surrounded  by  a  cluster  of 
American  and  flags  of  other  nations.  Underneath  these  was  the  inscription:  "  The  Taber- 
nacle his  pulpit ;  the  world  his  audience."  The  back  of  the  platform  was  hung  with  crimson 
plush,  embroidered  with  gold.  In  the  centre  stood  an  enormous  bouquet  of  lilies  and  roses. 
The  front  of  the  galleries  was  draped  with   bUie  plush,  heavily  embroidered  in  gold,  and 


37) 


38  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

everywhere  were  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  draping  the  cornices  and  windows,  twined  about 
pillars  and  outlined  against  the  otlier  hangings,  so  that  the  American  flag  dominated  the 
building,  and  the  occasion.  And  how  grandly  appropriate  were  these  embellislinients,  for 
next  to  his  allegiance  to  Christ  Dr.  Talmage  acknowledges  with  loyal  pride  his  loving  fealty 
to  his  country. 

Eight  o'clock  was  the  hour  appointed  for  the  beginning  of  the  celebrative  services  in 
the  Tabernacle,  but  long  before  that  time  a  tremendous  crowd  had  gathered  about  the 
building  completely  blocking,  with  a  jam  of  eager  humanity,  several  squares.  By  seven 
o'clock,  before  the  front  doors  were  opened,  the  immense  edifice,  capable  of  seating 
comfortably  5000  persons,  was  filled  to  its  utmost  limit,  save  the  platform,  which  had  been 
reserved  for  special  guests  and  those  having  in  charge  the  commemorative  exercises.  When 
the  hour  of  eight  arrived  services  Tvere  opened  by  the  organist,  Henry  Eyre  Brown, 
rendering  a  brilliant  composition  of  his  own  for  the  occasion,  entitled  "  The  Talmage  Sih'er 
Anniversary  ]\Iarch,"  which  was  received  with  a  great  applause. 

When  the  last  note  of  the  organ  died  away,  and  expectation  was  on  tip-toe,  a 
distinguished  company  of  participants,  headed  by  the  ]Mayor  of  Brookhn  (Mr.  Schieren), 
filed  out  of  the  pastor's  room  and  onto  the  platform,  followed  by  Dr.  Talmage  himself,  whose 
face  was  radiant  with  goodwill  and  gratitude.  The  exercises  of  celebration  began  by  the 
entire  audience  singing  the  doxology,  after  which  the  Rev.  James  M.  Farrar  offered  a  prayer, 
then  followed  the  introduction  by  Air.  Dimon,  one  of  the  trustees,  of  Mayor  Schieren,  who 
had  been  chosen  to  preside. 

The  first  night  of  the  commemoration  was  a  distinctively  Brooklyn  celebration,  and 
nearly  all  the  speakers  were  notables  of  that  city,  among  the  number  being  distinguished 
Catholics,  Methodists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians  and  representatives  of  other  denominations, 
besides  the  most  prominent  officials  and  citizens  of  Brooklyn.  Mayor  vSchieren  welcomed 
the  vast  audience  in  a  speech  of  much  warmth  and  congratulation,  wherein  he  paid  a 
splendid  tribute  to  Dr.  Talmage  and  to  his  congregation  ;  other  eloquent  speakers  delivered 
encomiums  on  the  genius  and  work  of  the  great  preacher,  which  were  received  with  the 
heartiest  acclamations  from  the  delighted  gathering.  Those  who  thus  addressed  the  vast 
audience  on  the  first  night  of  the  celebration  were  :  Hon.  Charles  A.  Schieren,  Editor  Bernard 
Peters,  Rev.  Father  Sylvester  ]\Ialone,  Rev.  Dr.  John  F.  Carson,  ex-Mayor  David  A.  Boody, 
Rev.  Dr.  Gregg,  Rabbi  F.  De  Sol.  Mendes,  Rev.  Dr.  Louis  A.  Banks,  Hon.  John  Winslow, 
Rev.  Spencer  F.  Roche,  Rev.  A.  C.  Dixon. 

At  the  reception,  Thursday  evening.  Rev.  Dr.  Gregg,  among  other  things,  said  : 

"There  is  only  one  Dr.  Talmage.  There  is  more  or  less  Talmage  in  every  minister,  but 
he  is  all  Talmage.  He  lives  among  us  unique.  There  is  but  one  man  in  the  American 
pulpit  that  can  di-aw,  and  hold,  and  thrill,  twice  every  Sabbath  the  }ear  round,  an  audience 
of  8000.  There  is  but  one  man  on  the  globe  that  preaches  the  gospel  every  week  through 
the  press  to  25,000,000.  There  is  only  one  man  living  who,  in  taking  a  trip  around  the 
world,  can  sav  :  '  I  am  simply  out  for  a  season  of  pastoral  calls.  I  am  taking  a  walk  among 
the  people  of  my  congregation.'  [Laughter  and  applause.]  There  is  only  one  Dr.  Talmage. 
With  this  fact  before  my  mind  I  come  to  this  great  meeting  to-night  to  congratulate  our 
municipality  that  Dr.  Talmage  is  a  citizen  of  Brooklyn  ;  to  congratulate  this  vast  church 
that  Dr.  Talmage  is  still  the  pastor  of  the  Brookhn  Tabernacle,  and  to  congratulate  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry  that  Dr.  Talmage  is  still  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Presbytery  in 
good  and  regular  standing.  [Laughter.]  As  his  nearest  Presbyterian  neighbor,  and  as  one 
of  the  delegates  of  the  Brooklyn  Presbytery  apjDointed  to  stand  on  this  platform,  I  bring  to 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  39 

Dr.  Talmage  and  his  great  flock  the  goodwill  and  the  pra)-ers  and  the  Godspeed  of  the 
Presbyterian  comnuinity  in  this  city  of  churches.  I  have  come  to  this  meeting  to-night  for 
another  reason.  It  is  a  reason  whicli  all  the  ministers  here  have  for  coming.  I  come,  as 
m\-  brethren  here  come,  to  demonstrate  to  the  public  the  freedom  from  jealousy  which 
characterizes  the  men  of  the  American  pulpit.  [Applause.]  We  heartily  rejoice  in  the 
success  of  every  true  man  of  God,  and  we  are  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  pay  to  every  such 
man  the  tribute  which  he  has  lawfully  earned.  While  I  disclaim  all  jealousy  and  to-night 
willingly  pay  the  tribute  of  praise  to  my  beloved  brother  who  rounds  out  a  quarter  of  a 
century  of  multitudinous  and  successful  labors  in  this  tabernacle,  I  am  honest  enough  to 
confess  that  I  should  like  to  be  able  to  preach  with  a  power  that  could  set  all  these  flags 
afloat  and  at  full  mast.  The  man  who  can  do  that  is  entitled  to  be  circled  round  and  round 
and  to  be  saluted  by  these  flags  as  Dr.  Talmage  is  on  this  occasion.  [Applause.]  As  I 
have  seen  Dr.  Talmage  from  the  pew  I  consider  him  the  greatest  word  painter  on  any 
continent  of  earth.  He  paints  for  Christ.  He  thinks  in  pictures,  and  he  who  thinks  in 
pictures  thinks  vividl\-.  He  paints  with  a  large  brush,  with  colors  that  burn  and  glow,  and 
nations  gather  around  his  pictures  and  feel  an  uplift  and  a  holy  thrill.  There  is  one  thing 
which  Dr.  Talmage  is  able  to  use  beyond  any  man  I  have  ever  heard  speak,  and  that  is  the 
rhetorical  pause.  He  makes  his  sermons  vivid  and  impressive  with  the  flash  of  a  golden 
silence.  Having  rounded  his  period  and  finished  his  point  he  stops  until  the  hush  of  heaven 
fills  the  house  and  until  the  audience  has  felt  the  power  of  God's  truth.'" 

Among  other  things  Rev.  Dr.  Banks  said  : 

"I  am  very  glad,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  the  opportunity  of  bringing  my  handful  of  wild 
flowers  from  the  Oregon  hillsides  where  I  first  came  to  know  and  admire  Dr.  Talmage  (and 
where  I  never  dreamed  that  I  should  ever  live  to  see  him  in  the  flesh,  much  less  take  him 
by  the  hand),  and  add  them  to  the  garland  we  are  weaving  for  the  head  of  the  most  widely- 
known  chieftain  of  the  American  pulpit — indeed,  I  doubt  not,  the  most  universally  read  of 
all  preachers  now  living  in  the  world.  I  am  glad  to  do  this  for  several  reasons.  First, 
because  Dr.  Talmage  has,  in  my  judgment,  done  more  to  revolutionize  preaching  in  respect 
to  its  being  made  entertaining  and  interesting,  than  any  other  man  now  among  us. 

"It  is  equall}'  true  to  say  that  no  other  minister  of  our  time  has  done  so  much  to  give 
consecrated  individuality  the  right  of  way.  I  believe  that  in  no  other  way  has  humanity 
lost  so  much  as  in  the  repression  of  individuality.  Against  the  tendency  to  cut  all  ministers 
off"  of  the  same  piece  of  cloth,  make  them  up  in  the  same  style  and  hold  them  to  a  sort  of 
sanctified  dudeism,  midway  between  a  corpse-like  dignity  and  pious  imbecility,  Dr.  Talmage 
has  stood  as  a  pulpit  Gibraltar,  and  thousands  of  young  ministers,  encouraged  by  his 
example  and  inspired  by  his  independence,  have  been  brave  enough  to  be  themselves  and 
live  their  own  lives  and  do  their  own  work  in  their  own  way'." 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Dr.  Talmage  was  called  for,  and  as  he  came  forward  the 
audience  hailed  him  with  such  applause  that  it  was  several  minutes  before  qniet  could  be 
restored  sufficiently  for  him  to  speak.      His  response  to  this  ovation  was  as  follows  : 

"  Dear  Mr.  Mayor  and  friends  before  me,  and  friends  behind  me,  and  friends  all  around 
me,  and  friends  hovering  over  me,  and  friends  in  this  room  and  the  adjoining  rooms,  and 
friends  indoors  and  outdoors — forever  photographed  upon  my  mind  and  heart  is  this  scene 
of  May  lo,  1894.  The  lights,  the  flags,  the  decorations,  the  flowers,  the  music,  the  illumined 
faces  will  remain  with  me  while  earthly  life  lasts,  and  be  a  cause  of  thanksgiving  after  I 
have  passed  into  the  great  beyond.  Two  feelings  dominate  me  to-night — gratitude  and 
unworthiness  ;  gratitude,  first  to  God,  and  next  to  all  you  who  have  complimented  me  by 


40  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

your  presence  or  your  speech,  or  who  have  by  letter  or  telegram  or  cablegram  sent  salutations  • 
and  unworthiness — for  who  would  dare  to  take  to  himself  one-half  of  the  applaudatory 
things  here  to-night  uttered  ?  While  our  magnetic  and  eloquent  friends  were  speaking 
it  seemed  that  they  must  mean  some  other  man  than  myself,  someone  with  more  gifts 
and  holier  life  and  higher  achievements.  What  a  commingling  of  all  religions !  Surely 
upon  no  platform  since  the  world  stood  have  there  been  gathered  so  many  different 
styles  of  belief.  This  is  a  section  of  the  millennium  let  down.  The  lamb  and  the 
lion  here  lie  down  together,  and  you  cannot  tell  who  is  the  lion  and  who  the  lamb. 
The  same  spirit  reigns  here  that  the  Quaker  expressed  to  George  Whitfield,  when 
Whitfield  in  his  clerical  gown  Avas  disposed  to  criticise  the  broad-brimmed  hat  of  the 
Quaker,  and  the  latter  said:  'George,  I  am  as  thou  art.  I  am  for  bringing  all  men  to 
the  hope  of  the  gospel ;  therefore,  if  thou  wilt  not  quarrel  with  me  about  my  broad  brim,  I 
will  not  quarrel  with  thee  about  thy  black  gown.  George,  give  ine  th}'  hand.'  God  bless 
the  mayor,  the  ministers,  the  lawyers,  the  doctors,  the  merchants,  the  citizens,  the  splendid 
men  and  the  magnificent  women  of  Brooklyn.  I  am  not  surprised  at  what  a  policeman 
told  me  on  the  Brooklyn  bridge  a  few  days  ago,  when  he  said  that  he  would  rather  be 
hung  in  Brooklyn  than  die  a  natural  death  in  any  other  city.  I  cannot  quite  adopt  that 
sentiment,  but  I  do  believe  that  Brooklyn  is  a  lovely  place  for  residence.  There  are  three 
classes  of  people  whom  I  especially  admire :  Men,  women  and  children.  All  this  scene 
to-night  confirms  me  in  the  idea  I  long  ago  adopted,  that  this  is  the  brightest  and  best  world 
I  ever  got  into.  The  fact  is,  I  can  stand  as  much  kindness  as  any  man  I  e\'er  knew.  My 
twenty-five  years  in  Brooklyn  have  been  hapjay  years.  Hard  work  of  course.  This  is  the 
fourth  church  in  which  I  have  preached  since  coming  to  Brooklyn,  and  how  much  of  the 
difficult  work  of  clnirch  building  that  implies  you  can  appreciate.  This  church  iiad  its 
mother  and  its  grandmother  and  its  great-grandmother.  I  could  not  tell  the  story  of 
disasters  without  telling  the  story  of  heroes  and  heroines,  and  around  me  in  all  these  years 
have  stood  men  and  women  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy.  But  for  the  most  part  the 
twentj'-five  years  have  been  to  me  a  great  happiness.  With  all  good  people  here  present 
the  wonder  is,  although  they  may  not  express  it,  '  What  will  be  the  effect  upon  the  pastor 
of  this  church  of  all  this  scene?'  Only  one  effect,  I  assure  you,  and  that  an  inspiration  for 
better  work  for  God  and  humanity.  And  the  question  is  already  absorbing  my  entire  nature, 
'What  can  I  do  to  repay  Brookhn  for  this  great  uprising?'  Here  is  my  hand  and  heart 
for  a  campaign  of  harder  work  for  God  and  righteousness  than  I  have  ever  yet  accomplished. 
I  have  been  told  that  sometimes  in  the  Alps  there  are  great  avalanches  called  down  b\'  a 
shepherd's  voice.  The  pure  white  snows  pile  up  higher  and  higher  like  a  great  white  throne, 
mountains  of  snow  on  mountains  of  snow,  and  all  is  so  delicately  and  evenl  -•  poised  that 
the  touch  of  a  hand  or  the  vibration  of  air  caused  by  the  human  voice  will  send  down  the 
avalanche  into  the  valleys  with  all  encompassing  and  overAvhelming  power.  Well,  to-night 
I  think  that  the  heavens  above  us  are  full  of  pure  white  blessings,  mountains  of  mercy  on 
mountains  of  mercy,  and  it  will  not  take  much  to  bring  down  the  avalanche  of  benediction, 
and  so  I  put  up  my  right  hand  to  reach  it,  and  lift  my  voice  to  start  it.  And  now  let  the 
avalanche  of  blessing  come  upon  your  bodies,  your  minds,  your  souls,  your  homes,  your 
churches  and  your  city.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  glory !     Amen  and  amen  !  " 

At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Talmage's  remarks  and  thankofferings  the  audience  applauded 
most  heartily  and  then  further  manifested  their  feelings  of  loving  appreciation  and  endear- 
ment by  singing 

"  God  be  with  jou  till  we  meet  again." 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  41 

The  services  of  the  first  clay  of  celebration  were  concluded  b>-  the  organist  playing  the 
inarch  from  "The  Queen  of  Sheba,"  but  it  was  not  until  after  midnight  that  the  gathering 
dispersed,  so  delightful  had  been  the  entertainment,  in  correspondence  with  the  warmth  of 
their  affectionate  esteem  for  the  universally  beloved  pastor. 

SECOND   DAY  OF  THE  CELEBRATION. 

The  evening  of  ^May  10,  1S94,  will  ever  be  a  memorable  anniversary  for  the  people  of 
Brooklvn,  for  upon  that  date,  it  will  long  be  remembered,  was  given  to  Dr.  Talmage  such 
an  ovation  as  few  if  any  other  civilians  have  ever  received  at  the  hands  of  their  friends. 
The  celebration  of  the  conclusion  of  his  twenty-five  years  of  active  ministerial  labor  in  that 
citv  was  made  an  event  not  oiil\-  municipal,  not  only  national,  but  international  as  well. 
The  first  evening  of  the  services  of  commemoration  was  largely  devoted  to  an  expression  of 
the  loving  regard  in  which  Dr.  Talmage  is  held  by  the  people  of  his  own  city,  but  all 
Christendom  wanted  a  voice  in  this  service  of  celebration,  approbation  and  admiration,  and 
the  occasion  was  therefore  at  hand  upon  which  to  express  it.  The  second  evening  was 
accordingly  made  an  international  observance  of  the  silver  anniversary,  and  the  participants, 
bv  presence,  speech  and  letters,  were  from  all  parts  of  the  world  ;  great  men  and  distinguished 
women,  thankful  for  the  opportunity  to  offer  their  tributes  to  the  preacher  who  ever\-  week 
sermonizes  to  people  of  every  civilized  land. 

The  exercises  of  the  second  evening  of  celebration  were  opened  with  praxer  b\-  the 
eloquent  Dr.  Milburn,  chaplain  of  the  United  States  Senate,  followed  by  the  rendering  of 
the  "  Talmage  Silver  Anniversary  March  "  by  the  organist.  Hon.  B.  F.  Tracy,  ex-Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  was  chosen  to  preside  during  the  evening,  and  in  accepting  the  position  spoke 
as  follows : 

SPEECH   OF   GENER.^L   TRACY. 

'■^Ladies  and  Gentlemen — Among  the  great  cities  of  the  Union  Brookhn  has  many  claims 
to  distinction,  and  not  the  least  of  these  is  to  be  found  in  the  learning,  ability  and  patriotic 
zeal  of  its  clergy.  I  speak  onlv  the  simple  truth  when  I  say  that  the  fame  of  Brooklyn 
rests  largely  upon  the  flime  of  its  great  preachers.  It  will,  I  think,  be  admitted  by  all  that 
the  people  of  Brooklyn  are  able  to  recognize  a  great  preacher  when  they  hear  him,  and 
when  they  call  him  to  one  of  their  churches  they  take  him  as  a  man  takes  the  partner  of 
his  life,  for  better  or  wor.se  so  long  as  they  both  shall  live.  No  really  great  preacher  once 
settled  in  Brooklyn  has  ever  left  it  to  take  up  his  field  of  labor  elsewhere.  Brooklyn  is  not 
a  commercial  city  in  the  sense  that  is  true  of  New  York,  Chicago,  Boston  or  San  Francisco. 
It  is  a  city  of  homes  and  there  is  something  in  the  strength  and  purity  of  its  home  influence 
and  in  the  love  of  its  people  for  a  home  life  that  has  contributed  largely  to  the  marked 
success  of  its  great  public  teachers.  It  has  been  called  the  Cit>-  of  Churches,  not  so  much 
I  apprehend  because  the  proportion  of  churches  to  the  population  exceeds  that  of  other 
cities  as  because  of  the  deeper  hold  of  the  churches  themselves  upon  the  life  of  the  people 
as  well  as  the  exceptional  ability  and  devotion  of  the  ministers  that  have  filled  their  pulpits. 
Brooklyn  does  not  postpone  the  just  recognition  of  the  services  of  its  great  religious  teachers 
until  after  they  are  gone,  but  assists  and  co-operates  with  them  in  their  good  work  by 
extending  to  them  in  their  lifetime  words  of  praise  and  encouragement.  Such  is  the  object 
and  purpose  of  this  celebration  of  the  twent\--fifth  anniversary  of  the  pastorate  of  Dr. 
Talmage  in  Brooklvn.  Last  evening  Brooklsn  honored  itself  by  a  celebration,  local  in 
character,  but  this  evening  the  celebration  takes  a  wider  scope.      It  becomes  national  and 


42  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

even  international  in  its  character.  And  it  is  fitting  that  it  should  be  so.  While  Dr. 
Tahnage  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  has  been  heard  in  Brooklyn,  his  sermons  delivered 
here  have  been  read  the  world  over.  No  preacher  of  to-day,  or  of  anv  day,  or  of  any  time, 
has  been  so  generally  heard  and  so  widely  read  as  Dr.  Talmage.  His  sermons  are  published 
every  week  in  more  than  three  thousand  different  newspapers,  each  of  which  reaches 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  readers.  There  is  scarcely  a  city  or  village  in  the  United 
States  from  Maine  to  Texas,  or  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  in  which  the  sermons 
delivered  in  this  Tabernacle  are  not  regularly  published  in  full  every  week.  The  same  is 
true  of  Great  Britain.  They  are  also  published  in  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  in  India, 
and  they  have  been  translated  into  more  than  half  a  dozen  different  European  languages. 
It  is  believed  that  the  sermons  of  Dr.  Talmage  enter  week  by  week  more  than  five  millions 
of  homes  and  are  placed  within  the  reach  of  more  than  twenty  millions  of  people.  And 
this  has  been  so  now  for  many  years.  No  minister  of  the  gospel  in  the  world's  history  ever 
commanded  in  his  lifetime  so  great  an  audience,  and  no  stronger  proof  could  be  given  that 
this  man  teaches  what  the  world  needs  to  hear,  that  he  truly  ministers  to  the  souls  of  men. 
This  is  the  secret  of  the  influence  which  our  friend  has  exerted,  that  in  bearing  his  message 
he  speaks  a  language  that  finds  a  response  in  every  human  heart.  The  breadth  and  depth 
and  strength  of  that  influence  are  attested  by  the  warm  and  kindly  greetings  that  we  shall 
hear  to-night  from  men  of  worth  not  only  in  this  country,  but  throughout  the  world,  men 
whose  esteem  and  friendship  are  a  valued  possession  to  all  who  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  win  them.  Many  such  men  have  come  here  to  do  him  honor.  Others,  who  could  not 
come  in  person,  take  part  in  this  celebration  by  sending  their  earnest  congratulations. 
Among  them  are  Senatprs  of  the  United  States,  Governors  of  States,  clergymen  of  distinction 
all  over  the  world,  the  bishops  of  other  churches  and  ptrblic  men  of  foreign  lands,  and 
foremost  among  these  last  is  that  prominent  statesman  and  scholar,  only  recently  retired  full 
of  \'ears  and  of  honors.  I  mean  the  late  prime  minister  of  Great  Britain,  William  E. 
Gladstone.  Upon  such  men  has  the  influence  of  the  teachings  of  Dr.  Talmage  made  itself 
felt.  It  has  been  diffused  over  all  lands  and  among  all  classes  and  conditions  of  humanity. 
It  has  reached  the  furthest  boundaries  of  the  civilized  world.  It  has  touched  those  who 
guide  and  direct  the  affairs  of  nations  as  well  as  the  humblest  citizen.  Such  an  influence  is 
a  powerful  instrument  for  good.  It  is  a  common  boast  in  this  country  that  there  is  no 
connection  between  church  and  State,  and  in  the  sense  that  the  State  seeks  not  to  control 
the  church  or  the  convictions  of  its  members  the  boast  is  justified.  But  there  is  a  broader 
meaning  than  this  to  the  relation  of  church  and  State,  which  lies  in  the  influence  for  good 
by  the  membership  of  the  church  upon  the  State  and  those  who  direct  its  affairs.  And  by 
the  church  I  mean  no  sect  or  denomination,  but  tlic  whole  body  of  Christian  believers. 
In  this  sense  the  connection  cannot  be  too  close,  and  it  is  far  from  being  as  close  as  it  ought 
to  be  to-day.  The  church  should  exact  the  same  standard  of  right  in  tiie  conduct  of  public 
affairs  that  it  exacts  in  the  private  lives  of  its  members.  It  should  tolerate  no  divergence 
from  the  straight  path  of  public  integrity.  It  should  not  palter  with  wickedness,  even 
when  the  wickedness  is  sought  to  be  excused  on  the  ground  that  the  offence  is  political 
rather  than  personal  in  its  character.  It  should  teach  and  should  enforce  the  same  code  of 
morals  and  honesty  in  public  life  as  in  private  life.  It  should  crush  out  the  theory  which 
has  been  the  root  of  much  evil  in  our  political  system,  that  there  is  one  code  of  morals  in 
affairs  of  the  State  and  another  code  of  morals  in  the  conduct  of  private  relations.  A  man 
cannot  be  honest  in  streaks  or  in  spots.  An  honest  man  must  be  an  honest  man  throughout. 
A  man  who  is  not  honest  may  simulate  honesty  for  \-ears,  though  his  heart  is  rotten  all  the 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  43 

while.  It  is  ouh-  the  temptation  and  the  opportunity  that  are  wanting  to  show  him  in  his 
true  character.  A  man  with  such  a  character,  raised  to  eminent  public  office,  engaged  in 
the  administration  of  public  affairs,  may  work  incalculable  mi.schief  both  to  the  morals  of 
the  connnunity  and  to  the  welfare  of  the  State  ;  but  so  long  as  his  dishonesty  is  against  the 
State  it  is  too  often  condoned  and  forgotten.  To  correct  this  error  is  one  of  the  foremost 
duties  of  Christian  citizenship  in  this  age  and  in  this  country,  and  it  is,  I  believe,  in 
recognition  of  this  fact  and  to  do  honor  to  one  fearless  in  the  discharge  of  his  dut>-  as  a 
Christian  teacher,  in  public  as  well  as  in  private  affairs,  that  we  are  assembled  here  to-night." 

General  Trac}-  was  followed  by  the  Hon.  William  ]\I.  Evarts,  who  spoke  in  a  similarly 
eulogistic  strain,  after  which .  Hon.  Patrick  Walsh,  United  States  Senator  from  Georgia, 
delivered  a  most  eloquent  tribute  which  brought  forth  repeated  applause.  Hon.  Joseph-  C. 
Hendrix,  Congressman  from  Brooklyn,  delighted  the  immense  audience  with  many  witty 
references,  and  also  with  unstinted  praise  for  Dr.  Talmage,  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
letters,  telegrams  and  cablegrams  were  read  from  hundreds  of  persons,  all  expressive  of 
great  admiration  for  the  subject  of  this  grand  and  fitting  international  reception.  Among 
those  who  thus  participated  in  spirit  in  the  celebration  were  Mr.  Gladstone,  the  Arch- 
Deacon  of  London,  Canon  Wilberforce,  Professor  Simpson  of  Edinburgh,  Thain  Davidson, 
the  Bishop  of  London,  the  Governor-General  of  Canada,  Count  Andre  Bobrinskoy,  of  St. 
Petersburg,  ex-President  Harrison,  Senator  John  Sherman,  Governor  McKinley,  and  in 
fact  Governors  of  nearh-  all  the  States,  many  members  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
prominent  ministers  of  various  denominations,  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  General 
Schofield,  commander  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  from  distinguished  persons 
in  the  various  walks  of  life. 

Among  the  hundred  or  more  letters  and  cablegrams  containing  congratulations  that 
were  read,  were  the  following  : 

Letter  from  Herbert  Gladstone,  Dollis  Hill,  N.  W. : 

Mr.  Gladstone,  being  somewhat  out  of  health,  has  to  restrict  his  correspondence  as  much  as  possible,  but 
he  desires  me  to  say  for  him  that  Dr.  Talmage  always  has  his  best  wishes,  and  that  he  remembers  with  much 
interest  the  occasions  when  he  has  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Dr.  Talmage. 

Herbert  Gladstone. 

Cablegram  from  London  : 

Cordial  congratulations  ;  grateful  acknowledgment  of  splendid  services  in  ministry  during  last  twenty-five 
years.     Warm  wishes  for  future  prosperity. 

Archde.\con  of  London, 
Canon  Wilberforce, 
Thain  Davidson, 
Professor  Simpson, 
John  Lobb, 
Bishop  of  London. 

Letter  from  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  Governor-General  of  Canada,  Ottawa  : 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  twenty-third  of  April,  inviting  me  t* 
be  present  at  the  reception  to  be  tendered  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talmage  on  the  eleventh. 

I  regret  that,  owing  to  engagements  here,  I  am  compelled  to  decline  the  courteous  invitation  thus  extended 
to  me,  but  I  beg  to  offer  good  wishes  in  relation  to  this  demonstration  of  esteem  and  goodwill  toward  Dr. 
Talmage. 


44  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

Russian  cablef^raiii    from  Count  Andre  Uolninsko)',  vSt.  Petersburg,  Rtissia : 

Heartfelt  coiigratiilntidiis  from  gratefully  reinemberiiig  Russian  friends. 

Letter  from  I'nited  States  Senator  John  Sherman  : 

Your  kind  invitation  in  Ijeiialf  of  your  committee  that  I  attend  the  reception  to  be  tendered  to  Rev.  T. 
DeWitt  Talmage,  D.D.,  LL.I).,  on  the  completion  of  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  pastorate  in  Brooklyn  is  received. 
There  is  no  one  for  whom  I  would  more  cheerfully  express  my  sincere  regard  and  my  hearty  appreciation  of  his 
wonderful  ability  than  Mr.  Talmage.  I  have  heard  him  and  heard  of  him  for  so  many  years,  and  have  read  so 
many  of  his  .sermons  that  I  hold  him  in  my  estimation  as  the  greatest  preacher  of  our  time.  All  this  and  much 
more  I  could  say  for  him  if  I  were  at  liberty  to  attend,  but  I  feel  that  my  official  duties  here  will  not  permit  me  to 
leave  at  a  time  when  so  many  interests  are  involved  in  the  legislation  of  Congress. 
.     Thanking  you  for  your  kind  invitation,  I  am, 

Ver\'  trulv  yours. 


Letter  from  William  Walter  Phelps,  ex-Minister  to  Germany,  Hot  Springs,  Va.  : 

I  .shall  not  be  well  enough  to  accept  the  invitation,  of  which  I  would  gladly  avail  myself,  to  testify  that  an 
acquaintance  of  a  score  of  years,  renewed  at  home  and  abroad,  in  public  and  private,  has  only  increased  my 
admiration  for  the  amount  of  patriotic,  social  and  religious  work  which  that  impetuous,  unselfish  and  gifted  man, 
Dr.  Talmage,  has  done. 

Letter  from  Cjovernor  McRinley  : 

I  feel  honored  Ijy  the  invitation  you  have  sent  me  to  take  part  in  the  reception  to  be  tendered  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Talmage  in  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  pastorate  at  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle.  While  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  be  present,  I  take  occasion  to  give  expres.sion  to  the  great  respect  and  esteem  in  which  I 
hold  Dr.  Talmage.  The  American  people,  irrespective  of  denominational  differences,  have  a  pride  in  the  ability 
and  public  services  of  Dr.  Talmage.  His  influence  for  good,  in  the  direction  of  public  sentiment,  extend;  far 
beyond  his  own  church  and  his  own  congregation  ;  it  is  felt  all  over  our  country,  and  even  beyond  the  seai 
Please  convey  to  the  Doctor  my  regards  and  congratulations.     Very  truly  yours. 


The  Governor  of  Virginia,  Hon.  Chas.  T.  O'Ferrall,  wrote: 

.\niong  the  clergv  of  .-Xmerica  he  is  the  foremost  man  of  the  age,  and  his  influence  is  felt  at  almost  every 
Christian  fireside,  while  his  scholarly  abilit}'  and  eloquence  have  won  him  a  world-wide  reputation.  The  compli- 
ment to  be  conferred  upon  him  is  a  well-merited  one,  and  is,  after  all,  but  another  laurel  added  to  the  honors  of  a 
long  and  useful  life. 

The  Governor  of  Wyoming,  Hon.  John  E.  Osborn,  wrote  : 

No  name  stands  higher  in  the  galaxy  of  great  American  nanies  than  that  of  Dr.  Talmage.     No  man  has 
done   more  for  the  lasting  benefit  of  the  race   than   he.  and   no  one  has  done  more  for  the  dissemination  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the  beautiful  religion  of  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth 
than  he,  and  there  is,  I  think,  no  true  American  citizen  but  feels  a  wave  of  admiration  and  love  .swell  in  his  breas', 
at  the  mention  of  the  great  teacher  of  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  45 

Letter  from  Josepli  Parker  : 

I  have  so  often  expressed  my  appreciation  of  Dr.  Talmage  that  I  feel  it  to  be  quite  needless  to  add  one  word 
of  eulogy,  even  ir.  view  of  the  impending  celebration  of  his  twenty-fifth  pastoral  anniversary.  I  Lave  been  asked 
to  join  others  in  sending  a  telegram  of  congratulation,  but  I  do  not  wish  to  be  one  of  a  number  in  recognizing  an 
event  which  is  so  intensely  personal.  In  the  realm  of  religious  imagination,  power,  fertility,  and  ardour  of  fancy. 
Dr.  Talmage  stands  in  my  esteem  absolutely  without  a  rival  in  the  Christian  pulpit  of  to-<lay.  It  is  within  my 
certain  knowledge  that  not  only  is  his  ministry  imaginativel\-  and  verbally  splendid,  but  that  it  carries  with  it 
converting  and  elevating  power.  This  is  of  course  the  highest  tribute  which  can  be  paid  to  any  ministry  ;  and  I 
do  nothing  but  the  barest  justice  to  a  brother  minister  in  thus  solemnly  and  gratefully  recording  the  fact. 
Association  with  Dr.  Talmage  is  most  discouraging  to  men  of  smaller  capacity  and  feebler  nerve.  We  can  only 
stand  back  from  him  and  each  say,  "I,  too,  am  a  preacher."  I  offer  him  my  love,  and  confidence,  and 
gratitude,  on  the  occasion  of  his  Silver  Wedding  with  the  church  in  Brooklyn. 


The  Governor  of  Michigan,  Hon.  John  P.  Rich,  wrote: 

While  Dr.  Talmage  has  been  pastor  of  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle  for  the  past  twenty-fi\e  years,  he  has  had 
the  nation,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  civilized  world,  for  an  audience. 

United  States  Senator  James  K.  Jones  wrote  : 

The  results  of  his  great  labors  will  be  felt  to  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time,  and  his  name  will  be  honored 
through  all  the  future  as  it  is  loved  by  those  who  know  him  now. 

Bishop  John  F.  Hnrst  wrote  : 

The  church  in  this  and  all  other  countries  has  been  enriched  by  his  labors.  JIany  a  life  has  become 
beautiful  through  his  teachings.     All  classes  have  shared  in  the  benefactions  of  his  heart  and  hand. 

Bishop  John  H.  \'incent  wrote  : 

I  rejoice  in  all  succes.ses  which  crown  Dr.  Talmage,  the  brilliant  and  loyal  American  preacher. 

After  more  tlian  an  honr  spent  in  reading  these  congratnlator\-  tributes,  Rev.  Charles 
L.  Tliompson  spoke  eloqtiently  of  Dr.  Tahnage's  genins,  work  and  inflnence,  followed  by 
Murat  Halstead,  as  representative  of  the  press,  who  in  tnrn  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J. 
Lansing.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  latter's  remarks  Gen.  Tracy  called  for  Dr.  Talmage, 
\vlio  responded  to  the  ovation  tendered  to  him  as  follows : 

SPEECH    OF    DR.    TALMAGE. 

"  Whether  to  address  the  presiding  officer  of  this  evening  as  one  of  the  heroes  of  the 
United  States  anny  and  call  him  General,  or  as  recently  a  member  of  presidential  cabinet, 
who  helped  lift  the  navv  from  insignificance  to  a  war  armament  that  commands  the  respect 
of  the  world,  and  call  him  ex-Secretary  ;  or  as  one  of  the  brilliant  leaders  in  the  American 
court-room  and  call  him  attorney-at-law,  I  am  undecided,  and  so  will  do  neither,  but 
address  him  as  Mr.  Chairman.  God  bless  you  for  your  kindness  in  coming  here  to-night 
to  preside  over  this  audience.      Wliat    in    this  scene  lias  made  the  deepest  impression  upon 


46  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

the  mind  of  this  audience  I  do  not  know.  The  most  vivid  on  my  mind  is  an  impression 
that  has  no  reference  to  myself  at  all.  We  have  been  told  that  religion  is  a  weak  thing,  fit 
for  the  weak  mind,  and  an  obsolete  affair  belonging  to  the  ages  of  superstition.  I  point  to 
the  group  of  illustrious  men  on  this  platform  to  prove  that  the  brain,  the  learning,  the 
el'oquence,  the  splendid  manhood  of  America  is  on  tlie  side  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  religion 
had  been  a  sham,  these  are  the  men  who  would  have  found  it  out.  We  have  in  this  land 
and  on  this  platform  the  man  who,  after  filling  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  United  States, 
and  belonging  to  two  Presidential  Cabinets,  and  pleading  in  the  most  important  cases  that 
ever  came  before  judge  or  jury,  stands  now  a  combination  of  Edmund  Burke  and  Daniel 
Webster — I  mean  William  M.  Evarts.  We  have  been  led  to-night  in  pra^■er  b\'  the  John 
Milton  of  the  American  pulpit,  like  the  one  after  whom  I  call  him,  his  eve-sight  blasted 
by  excess  of  vision,  turning  aside  from  the  United  States  Senate  to  pray  for  us  at  the  time 
when  the  Senate  most  needs  his  prayers  to  help  them  in  tlie  struggle  with  the  Wilson  bill. 
Georgia  sends  to  us  its  distinguished  citizen,  the  achievements  of  his  great  editorial  pen 
now  to  be  eclipsed  by  his  mighty  mission  in  the  United  States  Senate.  Henry  W.  Grady 
and  Senator  Colquit  have  passed  away,  but,  thank  God,  we  have  in  their  place  Hon.  Patrick 
Walsh.  On  this  platform  we  have  a  member  of  another  branch  of  the  national  legislature, 
but  whether  he  is  on  the  way  to  gubernatorial  or  presidential  chair  I  know  not,  but  this  I 
do  know :  He  is  our  joy  and  our  pride,  Hon.  Joseph  C.  Hendrix.  But  the  committee  of 
reception  does  full  honor  to  my  own  profession  ;  and  so  they  invited  to  this  platform  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  who  after  rousing  the  cities  of  the  west  with  his  superb  work  now 
stands  in  New  York  Sabbath  by  Sabbath  telling  the  sweetest  story  that  was  ever  told, 
as  he  only  can  tell  it — Dr.  Charles  L.  Thompson.  Boston  also  must  be  heard  from, 
and  Boston  is  here  in  the  pastor  of  the  most  historical  pulpit  in  that  city,  the  Park 
Congregational — my  friend  of  many  years,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing.  And  there  is  here 
Murat  Halstead,  our  great  editor,  and  one  of  the  grandest  acquisitions  Brooklyn  has  ever 
had.  Oh,  I  forgot  that  this  meeting  somewhat  refers  to  myself,  and  that  makes  me  feel 
a  little  weaker  than  I  ever  felt  before.  A  hundred  thousand  thanks.  I  suppose  I  may  as 
well  make  it  a  million. 

"Dr.  George  W.  Bethune,  once  a  great  preacher  on  Brooklyn  Heights,  was  stopping  over 
night  at  a  Pennsylvania  farm-house.  In  the  morning  the  Doctor  sat  at  the  breakfast  table 
alone,  for  the  good  housewife  felt  that  was  the  best  way  to  honor  him.  And  when  the 
buckwheat  cakes  were  put  upon  his  plate  the  good  woman  stood  by  him  with  the  molasses 
cup  to  pour  the  sweetness  on  his  cakes,  and  .she  said  to  him,  '  How  will  vou  take  this 
molasses  on  these  cakes?  Will  you  take  it  crinkle-crankle  or  all  in  a  puddle?'  To-night 
to  me  the  sweetness  has  come  in  the  latter  way,  and  all  in  a  puddle.  This  is  the  supreme 
hour  of  my  life.  Many  emotions  stir  my  soul,  but  neither  the  Brooklyn  City  reception  last 
night  nor  the  national  and  international  reception  to-night,  so  far  as  I  know  my  own  heart, 
has  created  in  me  one  feeling  of  exultation  or  pride.  It  has  only  stirred  in  me  a  profound 
wish  and  prayer  that  I  might  hereafter  prove  myself  worthy  of  all  this  kindness.  Up  till 
forty  years  of  age  a  man  may  have  ambition  for  himself,  but  for  the  most  part  after  that  it 
is  ambition  for  his  children  ;  and  I  shall  hand  over  to  my  children  in  every  form  that  I  can 
preserve  the  memories  of  last  night  and  to-night.  I  shall  tell  them  never  to  forget  the  men  who 
stood  on  this  platform  and  when  the  sons  of  these  men  come  on  the  stage  of  action,  to  seek 
to  cheer  them  as  much  as  their  fathers  have  cheered  me.  Tlie  fact  is,  that  to  all  of  us  life 
is  a  struggle.  By  kind  thoughts  and  kind  words  and  kind  deeds,  let  us  help  each  other  on 
the  way  and  then  may  we  all  meet  coming  up  from  north  and  south  and  east  and  west,  and 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  47 

from  both  sides  of  the  sea,  in  our  Father's  house,  where  so  man}'  of  our  loved  ones  are  now 
awaiting  our  arrival.  ]\Iyself  having  thanked  the  gentlemen  who  have  taken  part  in  this 
meeting,  I  ask  this  audience,  when  I  shall  give  them  the  signal,  to  rise  and  take  out  their 
handkerchiefs  and  wave  them  and  give  three  cheers  for  the  illustrious  guests  of  the  evening." 

The  audience  was  dismissed  with  benedictions,  but  it  was  not  until  the  early  morning 
hours  that  the  Tabernacle  was  entirely  emptied  and  Dr.  Talmage  was  finally  permitted  to 
retire. 

The  whole  meeting  seemed  an  echo  of  the  appreciation  expressed  by  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Spurgeon,  of  London,  when  he  wrote  to  Doctor  Talmage  on  the  receipt  of  a  book  of 
sermons  twenty-three  years  ago  : 

I  shall  greatly  prize  the  volume  you  have  sent  ine.  The  discourses  I  have  read  before,  but  from  the  giver 
I  had  not  ere  this  received  special  greeting.  Fellow-soldier,  I  return  your  salutation  most  heartih'.  The  Lord  is 
with  thee,  thou  mighty  man  of  valour  !     So  may  He  ever  be  with  thee  till  the  campaign  closes  with  victory. 

I  am  indeed  glad  of  your  voice.  It  cheers  me  intensely.  You  love  the  gospel  and  believe  in  soniethitig, 
which  some  preachers  hardh-do.  I  feel  sure  j-ou  will  give  us  a  full  Puritanic  theology.  There  are  those  about  who 
use  the  old  labels,  but  the  articles  are  not  the  same. 

May  the  Lord  win  armies  of  souls  to  Jesus  by  you.  I  am  astonished  when  God  blesses  )iit\  but  somehow  I 
should  not  be  so  nmch  surprised  if  He  blessed  yoit.  Indeed  I  see  much  to  admire  in  your  speech,  and  feel  that 
God  will  bless  it.     It  shall  be  as  He  wills      Yours  most  heartily. 


The  meeting  seemed  also  an  echo  of  the  appreciation  expressed  by  Canon  Wilberforce 
when  introducing  Dr.  Talmage,  in  1879,  to  an  audience  in  Southampton,  England.  The 
Canon  remarked :  "  I  used  to  read  Doctor  Talmage's  sennons,  but  I  have  ceased  to  do  so, 
because  the  temptation  to  reproduce  them  is  too  strong." 

The  Silver  Jubilee,  the  magnificent  celebration,  the  .splendid  tribute,  the  inter- 
national commemoration  of  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  Dr.  Talmage's  Brooklyn  pastorate, 
was  concluded  with  the  Sabbath  noon  service,  May  13,  1894.  The  immense  temple, 
reared  with  sacrifices  and  dedicated  with  reverence,  was  packed  with  people  who 
came  with  eagerness  and  affection  to  hear  the  farewell  sermon  of  the  beloved  preacher 
who  was  to  start  on  the  morrow  for  a  tour  around  the  world.  Every  face  in  that 
tremendous  audience  was  aglow  with  blessings,  yet  sorrow  at  the  early  parting  showed 
in  every  eye.  Dr.  Talmage  had  been  overwhelmed  with  three  days  of  jubilation,  wherein 
Tie  had  been  made  the  central  figure  of  an  outpouring  of  Christendom  such  as  no 
other  minister  in  the  world's  history  had  ever  provoked  or  received.  But  he  manifested 
no  fatigue,  his  spirit  was  even  more  buoyant  under  the  stimulus  of  the  ovations  that 
attested  the  appreciation  and  love  in  which  he  is  held  by  Christians  of  ever\-  land.  Six 
thousand  people  attended  this  last  service,  and  twenty-five  infants  were  baptized  b>-  his 
hands  and  blessed  b}'  his  benediction. 

The  subject  of  his  discourse  was  "  A  Cheerful  Church,"  and  his  text  was  from  Solomon's 
Song,  "  Behold  thou  art  fair,  m)*  love,''  which  he  treated  in  a  most  eloquent  manner, 
concluding  with  such  feeling  words  as  to  his  going  away   that  tears  glistened  in  ever}'  eye. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  sennon  Dr.  Talmage  invited  every  one  forward  that  they 
might  have  a  farewell  international  handshake,  which  nearly  all  persons  in  the  vast 
audience  accepted,  then  the  benediction  was  pronounced  and  while  the  organist  played  the 
Talmage  Jubilee  March  the  great  gathering  was  dismissed. 


4S 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


choked  with  luniian  l^eines  ! 


God's  providence  was  perhaps  never  more  distinctly  manifested  than  on  this  occasion, 
for  when  less  than  twenty  persons  were  still  in  tlie  Tabernacle,  lingering  to  speak  a  last 
word  with  their  pastor,  Mrs.  Talmage  discovered  a  tongne  of  flame  leaping  from  the 
top  of  the  organ  upon  which  Prof  Brown  was  still  pla\ing  his  "  Silver  Jubilee  March." 
Siippo.se  the  fire   had   broken   ont  a  few   minntes   sooner,  when  the  vast  anditorinm  was 

Hearts  are  sickened  by  the  very  thought. 

When  Dr.  Talmage  was 
appealed  to  by  his  friends 
to  run  for  his  life,  he 
showed  no  excitement,  but 
turned  into  his  study  to  get 
his  hat  just  as  several  of  the 
large  false  pipes  of  the  great 
organ  fell  with  a  mighty 
crash  upon  the  very  spot 
where  he  had  a  moment 
before  been  standing.  By 
another  door  he  rejoined  his 
family,  at  the  sight  of  whom 
he  exclaimed,  "  Thank  God 
all  are  saved,  but  the  cluirch 
is  certainly  lost."  But  he 
was  still  reluctant  to  leave 
the  Tabernacle,  esteeming 
that  he  might  be  of  service 
to  a.ssist  some  one  who  had 
not  yet  escaped,  though, 
thanks  be  to  God,  the  now 
fier\-  temple  contained  no 
lingering  one.  During  this 
iuter\al  the  flaming  demons 
were  working  a  swift  de- 
struction, and  spreading 
with  inconceivable  rapidity. 
They  caught  the  silver  jubi- 
lee bunting  and  whirled  it 
aloft  as  if  it  had  been  made 
of  tissue  paper.  They  fast- 
ened their  teeth  of  flame 
tipon  the  ceiling  so  richly 
decorated  and  substantial  looking,  but  which,  made  of  papier  mache,  was  as  inflammable 
as  if  it  had  been  saturated  with  kerosene.  A  cloud  of  smoke,  black  as  the  wrath  of  the 
god.s,  collected  about  the  great  and  beautiful  dome  and  slowly  descended  to  the  floor,  masking 
the  glorious  cathedral  windows,  shutting  out  the  sunlight  which  had  for  the  last  time  lit  up 
the  cheerful  interior  of  this  almost  cathedral  church,  and  choking  those  who  were  still  inside. 
And  then  with  a  sudden  burst  of  venom,  and  with  the  jingle,  far  from  merry,  of  broken 
glass,  it  burst  its  way  out  through  roof  and  window  and  sent  a  black  and  noisome  column 


MY   TRAVELING    COMPANION    IN   THE  JOURNEY   ROUND   THE   WORLD. 
REV.    FRANK    DE  WITT  TALMAGE. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


49 


far  up  into  the  blue-topped  sky,  and  following  fast  upon  the  smoke  came  licking  flames,  and 
after  them  a  rosy  fury. 

The  alarm  was  prompt!}-  sounded,  hut  the  fire  so  quickly  obtained  mastery  that  human 
power  could  not  save  the  great  Tabernacle  nor  could  the  valorous  brigade  of  fighters  keep  the 
long  fingers  of  flame  from  grasping  adjoining  buildings.  "  Doomed,  doomed,"  was  the  cry  ; 
and  so  it  proved.  When  the  Tabernacle  had,  within  ten  minutes'  time,  become  an 
inextinguishable  furnace,  the  magnificent  Hotel  Regent,  filled  with  guests,  became  an 
accession  to  the  pyre  and  with  this  increase  the  holocaust  was  intensified  till  the  fiends  of 
fire  crackled  with  glee  and  whelmed  the  whole  city  with  lambent  ire.  It  was  the  most 
extensive  conflagration  that  ever  visited  Brooklyn,  the  losses  being  as  follows : 

The  Tabernacle .  $450,000 

Reijent  Hotel, 700,000 

Private  houses,               72,000 

Suiiinierfield  Church 4,000 


Total $1,227,350 

Rut  while  the  loss  of  property  was  im- 
mense, thanks  be  to  God  it  was  not  accom- 
panied by  any  destruction  of  life,  nor  serious 
injur\'  to  any  one,  though  narrow  escapes 
were  numerous. 

Dr.  Talmage   has  been  peculiarh'  unfor- 
tunate in  respect  to  his  churches,  for  he  has 
been  both  pursued  and  persecuted  by  the  fu- 
ries of  fire,  as  the  follow- 
ing  brief  record    of    his 
losses  will  show  : 

In  1S69  Dr.  Tal- 
mage received,  while  a 
pastor  in  Philadelphia,  ^^^, 
a  "call"  from  three 
churches,  one  in  San 
Francisco,  another  in 
Chicago  and  the  third 
in  Brookhn.  After  due 
consideration  he  selected 
Brooklyn  as  his  future 
field  of  labor.  At  that 
time  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle  congregation  was  composed  of  but  a  few  worshipers — a  mere 
handful.     The  neighborhood,  however,  was  thickly  settled. 

The  )-oung  clergyman  began  work  with  his  whole  heart,  and  before  a  year  had  passed 
the  barnlike  edifice  in  which  lie  and  his  people  met  was  much  too  small  for  the  crowds  that 
wished  to  enter  it.  Accordinglv,  in  1871,  a  new  Tabernacle  of  corrugated  sheet  iron  was 
erected,  and  that,  too,  was  packed  every  Sunday.  All  the  seats  were  free,  and  the  work 
was  supported  by  voluntary  contributions,  which  were  enormous. 

On    Sunday  morning,  December    22,  1872,  this   building  was   burned    to   the   ground. 
When  the  pastor  arrived  at  the  usual  hour  for  beginning  service  he  found  his  great  con- 
gregation watching  the  conflagration.      But,  like  the   Rev.  Robert  Collyer  at  the  ruins  of 
Unit>-  Church    in    the   Chicago  fire,  he  was  animated  with   new  vigor,  and   there  by  the 
4 


THE  GREAT  BROOKLYN  TABERNACLE  BEFORE  THE  FIRE. 


50  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

blazing  timbers,  he  told  his  friends  that  the  church  just  burned  had  never  been  large 
enough,  and  that,  by'God's  providence,  they  would  at  once  erect  another  on  the  ruins. 
Plans  were  inimediatel)-  drawn  for  another,  which,  when  completed,  proved  to  be  what  at 
that  time  was  one  of  the  largest  Protestant  edifices  in  America.  It  was  a  splendid,  spacious 
Gothic  pile — cathedral-like  above  and  theatre-like  in  the  uiain  body,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  from  5000  to  6000,  according  to  the  packed  condition  of  the  aisles  and  space  around  the 
pulpit,  where  extra  seats  accommodated  1000  more  on  special  jubilee  occasions.  This 
new  church,  which  soon  had  world-wide  fame,  was  dedicated  on  January  22,  1874.  It  soon 
became  one  of  the  chief  churches  of  the  country,  and  the  centre  of  evangelical  activity  in 
Brooklyn.  Copies  of  the  sermons  delivered  in  it  were  sent  out  broadcast  by  a  special 
syndicate  arrangement,  and  translated  into  French,  German,  Italian,  Swedish  and  Russian. 
But  this  great  cliurch,  like  its  predecessor,  was  doomed  to  burn.  It  went  up  in  smoke  and 
ashes  on  October  13,  1889. 

Again  the  fire  broke  out  on  a  Sunday  morning.  Only  four  blackened  walls  greeted 
the  sorrowing  congregation.  All  was  lost — the  grand  organ,  the  collection  of  choice  music 
and  the  big  library.  From  his  bed-room  window  Dr.  Talmage  saw  the  wild  spectacle,  "  the 
destruction  of  the  temple  of  his  heart  and  soul,  wherein  all  his  earthly  hopes  were  centred." 
But,  as  he  said  in  speaking  of  it,  neither  he  nor  his  people  were  dismayed  at  this  new  and 
still  greater  calamity.  Once  again  skillful  architects  were  asked  to  prepare  plans  for  a  new 
Tabernacle,  larger  and  more  magnificent  than  either  of  the  other  churches. 

On  the  morning  of  October  28,  1890,  ground  was  broken  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Clinton  and  Greene  avenues,  Brooklyn.  Work  was  pushed  with  a  will,  and  by  the  following 
spring  the  building  was  ready  for  worshipers.  It  was  formally  opened  by  Dr.  Talmage  on 
his  return  from  his  famous  journey  to  tlie  Holy  Land,  in  May  of  that  year,  1891.  The 
architects  were  J.  B.  Snook  &  Sons,  of  Brooklyn,  who  were  credited  with  accomplishing  the 
remarkable  task  of  completing  the  vast  edifice  on  time.  It  was  this  church  that  burned 
May  13,  1894.  It  was  considered  the  largest  Protestant  church  in  America,  and  would  seat 
5000  persons  comfortably.  Ou  extra  occasions,  by  throwing  open  the  doors  leading  into 
the  Sunday-school  annex,  2000  more  could  find  seats  in  full  view  and  within  hearing  of  the 
preacher.  It  was  called  the  most  imposing  church  structure  in  Brookh-n,  and  it  cost 
$350,000. 

The  st}le  of  architecture  was  Norman,  solid,  massive  and  imposing,  of  rich,  dark, 
umber-colored  granite,  with  facings  of  Lake  Superior  hrownstone.  The  striking  cliaracter- 
istics  of  the  exterior  were  a  high  tower  at  the  corner  and  two  gables  on  each  facade,  with 
small  towers  at  the  extreme  ends  of  each  facade.  The  corner  tower  went  \\p  160  feet  high 
from  the  ground  to  the  finials.  The  church's  general  form  was  .square,  but  over  the  two 
principal  entrances  was  a  rounded  projection  which  was  carried  up  two  stories.  The  interior 
was  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheatre.  There  were  two  galleries,  and  on  the  Waverly 
avenue  side  a  commodious  lecture-room  and  reading-room.  On  each  side  of  the  main 
auditorium  were  Bible  and  class-rooms,  separated  from  the  main  room  by  sliding  doors  that 
could  be  pushed  aside  on  special  occasions,  making  one  great  room.  There  were  also  two 
large  reception-rooms  near  the  lobbies,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  strangers  and  visitors.  The 
lobbies  and  passageways  were  spacious — none  less  than  eight  feet  wide.  There  were  no 
winding  staircases.  The  idea  was  to  have  the  church  easy  of  entrance  and  egress.  It  has 
been  specially  arranged  to  prevent  "choking"  in  case  of  a  panic  by  fire,  or  accidents  of 
any  kind.  Electric  lights  were  used  in  ever}'  part  of  the  structure.  The  windows  were  of 
cathedral  glass,  richly  stained,  and  the  much-praised  rose  window  was  considered  particularly 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  51 

fine.  Of  the  interior  it  was  written  that  the  upholstery  in  the  pews  was  "  in  warm,  cheerful 
colors,  and  the  prevailing  effect  (in  harmony  with  the  fine  roof  timbers  in  their  natural 
colors)  of  orange  and  subdued  tints."  In  every  respect  it  was  a  magnificent  building, 
original  in  design  and  a  very  model  of  adaptation  to  congregational  uses.  But  it  too  was 
a  shining  mark  for  the  demons  of  pyrotechny,  who,  despite  its  consecration,  dev'oured  the 
sacred  edifice,  and  again  left  Dr.  Talmage  churchless.  It  is  consolement  to  know,  as  a  New 
York  newspaper  said  the  day  following  the  fire  :  "  Flames  have  destroyed  the  Tabernacle 
of  Dr.  Talmage,  but  fire  can  never  destroy  the  splendor  of  his  career." 

Dr.  Talmage  was  interviewed  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  fire,  and  his 
indomitable  spirit,  profound  and  unswerving  faith  in  God,  and  unchangeable  cheerfulness 
of  heart  are  manifest  in  his  answers.  Said  he  :  "  It  is  a  great  disaster,  a  great  disaster,  but 
the  mercy  of  God  overtowers  the  disaster." 

"  You  wish  for  my  version  of  the  catastrophe  ?  "  he  said.  "  Here  it  is  :  At  the  close  of 
the  church  service  this  morning  I  was  shaking  hands  with  a  great  nuiltitude  of  people  at 
the  foot  of  the  pulpit  platform.  I  was  about  through,  and  went  down  the  body  of  the 
church  to  speak  to  my  wife,  who  was  standing  there.  She  immediately  called  my  attention 
to  a  fire  that  was  spouting  from  the  top  of  the  altar.  When  I  saw  it  was  under  full 
headway,  my  first  impulse  was  to  look  around  and  see  who  was  there  in  the  church.  To 
my  delight  there  were  but  about  twenty.  I  said  to  myself,  there  are  twenty  people  and 
twenty-five  doors,  and  every  one  will  escape.  I  then  went  over  the  shoulder  of  the  burning 
platform  and  entered  my  study.  Then  I  thought,  'Is  it  manly  to  run? 'and  continued 
walking  up  and  down  the  study.  I  had  just  made  up  my  mind  to  walk  out  and  see  if 
every  one  had  escaped,  when  a  New  York  friend  rushed  in  and  said  :  '  Get  out !  Get  out ! 
]\Ir.  Talmage,  you  must  leave  at  once ! '  We  went  out  through  the  Greene  avenue  door 
and  walked  around  to  the  front  entrance,  from  which  place  I  could  see  the  fire  blazing,  and 
knew  that  the  church  was  doomed." 

In  spite  of  his  calm  manner,  Dr.  Talmage  was  deeplv  affected,  and  tears  came  into  his 
eyes  at  the  recollection  of  that  last  moment  in  the  monument  he  had  reared. 

"  Yes,"  he  repeated,  "  the  mercy  of  God  overtowers  the  disaster.  If  this  had  occurred 
half  an  hour  before  it  did  there  would  have  been  the  calamity  of  the  centur\'.  There  were 
at  least  6000  persons  packed  into  the  church  and  lecture-room,  and  in  the  panic  which 
must  needs  have  ensued  many  would  have  been  trampled  under  foot.  If  it  had  occurred 
during  the  Sunday-school  hours  God  knows  what  horrors  would  have  ensued.  While  the 
calamity  has  been  infinite,  the  mercy  has  likewise  been  infinite. 

"  Personally,  I  feel  not  one  iota  disheartened.  I  never  had  more  faith  in  God,  or  a 
brighter  hope  for  the  future.  As  nearly  as  I  can  find  out,  the  church  officers  feel  the  same 
way.  It  is  a  long  procession  of  church  disasters  that  is  inexplicable.  It  may  be  likened  to  a 
family  in  which  four  or  five  children  die  of  scarlet  fever.  You  can't  explain,  and  you  just 
accept  the  facts.  It's  the  same  with  the  church.  The  matter  is  a  mystery  which  I  adjourn 
to  the  next  world.  I  do  not  try  to  explain,  but  just  bow  submissively  to  the  mercy  of  the 
Lord. 

"  As  far  as  I  can  learn,  there  were  no  fatal  accidents.  However,  two  of  our  trustees, 
Thomas  Pitbladdo  and  T.  G.  Matthews,  had  ver\'  narrow  escapes  from  death.  They,  with 
other  trustees,  were  in  a  room  in  the  turret,  and  their  first  intimation  of  danger  was  from 
smoke  that  filled  the  room.      Their  escape  was  providential. 

"  I  believe  also  that  Elder  Lawrence  crawled  out  through  the  smoke  on  his  hands  and 
knees." 


52 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


When  asked  liis  theory  as  to  the  cause  of  the  fire,  Dr.  Tahiiage  said  :  "  Electricity 
beyond  a  doubt.  That  is  somethinjj  that  is  only  partly  harnessed,  and  even  when  liridled 
breaks  its  harness.  I  am  confident  there  was  a  misarrangement  of  wires.  Electricity 
destroyed  our  other  church,  and  I  am  confident  it  did  this  one. 

''What  is  the  meaning  of  the  three  fires  which  have  destroyed  Brooklyn  Tabernacle? 
As  I  leave,  people  in  many  lands  are  discussing  that  question,  for  telegrams  from  across  the 
Atlantic,  as  well  as  from  many  parts  of  this  country,  show  that  the  fiery  news  had  leaped 
every  whither.  Three  vast  structures  dedicated  to  God  and  the  work  of  trying  to  make 
the  world  better,  gone  down,  and  all  this  within  a  few  years.  They  were  well  built  as  to 
permanence  and  durability-.  All  the  talk  about  these  buildings  as  mere  fire-traps  is  the 
usual  cant,  for  there  is  as  much  secular  cant  as  religious  cant.     Have  \ou  heard  in  the  last 


(;rand  canon  of  tke  coi.oRAno. 

forty  years  of  any  church,  or  any  hall,  or  any  theatre  which,  after  destruction,  was  not 
called  a  fire-trap?  That  charge  alwa}-s  makes  a  lively  opening  for  any  description  of  a  fire. 
There  have  been  no  better  structures,  secular  or  religious,  put  up  in  the  last  twent\-fi\-e 
years  than  the  three  Brooklyn  Tabernacles,  and  the  modes  of  egress  from  them  so  ample 
that  the  thousands  of  worshipers  assembled  in  any  of  them  could  be  put  safely  on  the 
street  inside  of  five  minutes.  The  fact  is  that  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  incombustible. 
When  the  great  Chicago  and  Boston  fires  took  place  they  burned  up  stone  and  iron.  The 
human  race  will  go  on  building  inconsumable  churches,  and  inconsumable  banks,  and 
inconsumable  storehouses,  and  inconsumable  cities,  and  then  all  will  be  consumed  in  the 
world's  last  fire. 

"  Builders,  who  had  large  experience    and     established    reputation,    pronounced    the 
Brookh-n  Tabernacles  perfect   structures.      But  what   is  the  meaning  of  the  three  fires  ? 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  53 

Tliere  iiia\-  be  a  hundred  different  lessons  learned  by  a  hundred  different  people  and  legiti- 
mate lessons.  As  for  myself,  I  adjourn  most  of  the  meaning  to  tlie  next  world.  We  will 
learn  there  in  two  minutes  more  than  we  can  find  out  here  in  fifty  years.  With  that  antici- 
pation, mysteries  do  not  often  bother  me. 

"One  reason  for  these  consecutive  disasters  may  be  that  the  patience  of  the  best  people 
in  the  world,  the  members  of  Brooklyn  Tabernacle,  was  to  be  perfected.  '  Purified  by 
fire.'  ;\Iighty  discipline  for  one  of  the  Lord's  hosts.  Whether  I  e\-er  meet  them  on  earth 
or  not,  it  will  be  a  theme  of  hea\enly  reminiscence.  We  shall  talk  it  all  over,  tlie  story  of 
the  three  fires. 

"Another  reason  why  the  last  church  went  down  may  have  been  that  some  of  us  were  idoliz- 
ing the  building,  and  the  Lord  will  not  allow  idolatry.  The  house  was  such  a  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream  of  beaut\'.  Enchantment  lifted  in  galleries  and  sprung  in  arches  and  glori- 
fied in  the  light  which  came  through  windows  touching  it  with  their  deftest  fingers.  The 
acoustics  so  rare  that  thousands  of  ears  were  in  easy  reach  of  common  accentuation.  An 
organ  which  was  a  hallelujah  set  up  in  pipes  and  banked  in  keys,  waiting  for  a  musician's 
manipulation,  that  would  lead  the  congregational  song  as  an  archangel  might  lead  heaven. 
Glorious  organ  !  When  it  died  down  into  the  ashes  of  that  fire,  perhaps  its  soul  went  up 
where  Handel  and  Haydn  began  to  pla)-  on  it.  The  most  superb  audience-room  that  I 
ever  gazed  on  or  ever  expect  to  see,  until  I  enter  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  On  one  memorial 
wall  of  that  building,  a  stone  which  I  had  rolled  down  from  Mount  Calvary,  where  our 
Lord  died,  and  two  tables  of  stone  that  were  sawed  off  from  ^Nlount  Sinai,  and  brought  on 
camels  across  the  desert  by  my  arrangement,  and  a  part  of  Paul's  pulpit,  which  the  Queen 
of  Greece  allowed  me,  from  Mars  Hill.  Architecture  so  chaste,  so  grand,  so  appropriate,  so 
suggestive,  so  stupendous  !  One  of  the  doxologies  of  heaven  alighted.  W^ell,  perhaps  we 
thought  too  much  of  it.  When  we  think  too  much  of  our  children,  the  Lord  takes  them, 
and  when  we  think  too  much  of  our  church,  the  Lord  summarily  removes  it. 

"I  suppose  another  reason  for  the  departure  of  that  house  was  that  it  had  done  its  work. 
Church  buildings,  like  individuals,  accomplish  what  they  were  built  for  and  then  go.  One 
person  lives  ninety  years,  another  fortv  ^  ears,  another  three  }ears,  and  when  God  takes  an 
individual,  whether  at  ninetv,  or  fort\-,  or  three  years,  his  mission  is  ended.  This  last 
church  stood  three  years,  and  any  person  who  knows  what  multitudes  have  there  assembled, 
and  what  transactions  for  eternity  have  there  taken  place,  will  admit  that  it  was  well  to 
build  it,  even  if  we  had  known  at  the  start  that  it  would  only  last  from  1891  to  1894. 

"Another  reason  wh\-  I  think  this  last  church  went  down  was  to  keep  me  humble. 
The  Lord  had  widened  my  work  through  Christendom,  and  with  two  receptions  the  week 
before  the  conflagration,  the  one  a  cit\'  reception  presided  over  b\'  our  mayor,  and  the  other 
a  national  and  international  reception  presided  over  bv  one  of  the  chief  men  of  the  nation, 
who  had  recently  stepped  from  the  Presidential  cabinet,  and  the  occasion  honored  by 
addresses  and  letters  and  cablegrams  from  men  of  world-wide  fame  in  Church  and  State,  and 
the  whole  scene  brilliant  beyond  description  and  in  compliment  to  myself,  who  was 
brought  up  a  farmer's  boy,  there  was  danger  that  I  might  become  puffed  up  and  my  soul 
weakened  for  future  work.  I  did  not  yet  feel  any  stirrings  of  that  sort,  and  had  only  felt 
an  humble  gratitude  for  what  had  been  said  and  done  by  friends,  transatlantic  and 
cisatlantic,  but  I  had  ordered  full  reports  of  the  meeting  laid  aside  for  future  perusal,  and  I 
had  engaged  the  fleetest  stenographer  I  know  of  to  take  down  every  word,  from  the  opening 
doxology  of  the  first  reception  to  the  benediction  of  the  last  reception,  and  sometime,  when 
less  bu.sy,  I  would  take  in  all  the  eloquence  and  kindness  and  splendor  of  that  memorable 


54 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


week.  What  might  have  been  the  result  upon  myself  I  know  not.  I  have  seen  upon 
others  the  withering  effect  of  human  praise.  A  cold  chill  of  the  world's  neglect  is  no 
more  destructive  than  the  sunstroke  from  too  much  heat  of  popular  approval.  The  disaster 
may  have  been  needed,  and  it  came  so  close  upon  the  adulation  that  it  acted  as  an  e\-er- 
lasting  prevention.  In  the  light  of  that  awful  blaze  of  that  Sabbath  in  ]\Iay,  1894,  no  self- 
sufficiency  could  stand  a  second. 

"Another  reason  for  the  fires  I  think  is  that  somehow,  and  in  a  way  that  I  know  not,  m\- 
opportunities  are  to  widen.  After  each  of  the  other  fires  new  doors  were  open.  I  prayer- 
fullv  expect  that  such  will  be  the  sequence  of  the  last  conflagration. 

"Will  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle  be  rebuilt  ?  I  know  not.  What  or  when  or  where 
shall  be  my  work  I  cannot  even  guess,  nor  have  I  the  least  anxiety.  Nothing  but  an 
inspired  utterance  of  the  Bible  could  bear  such  repetition  as  I  have  for  the  last  twelve  days 
given  to  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  "  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  rejoice." 

No  lamentations  nor  discouraging  wails  escaped  the  lips  of  this  most  optimistic  of  men  ; 
like  Job,  he  submitted  to  whatever  it  was  the  will  of  God  to  send  ;  that  as  rain  falls  alike 
upon  the  just  and  the  imjust,  so  does  adversity  know  no  distinction  in  its  visits,  and  he  who 
loveth  the  Lord  should  therefore  accept  whatsoever  it  seemeth  good  to  Him  to  send. 
Sometimes  the  rod  that  chasteneth  buds  forth  with  blessings  ;  sometimes  the  heavy  yoke 
becomes  a  crown  ;  sometimes  the  burden  is  a  cross.  And  in  this  divine  spirit  of  resignation 
Dr.  Talmage  watched  the  great  Tabernacle,  built  with  so  much  effort,  dedicated  with  so 
much  reverence,  sustained  by  so  much  good,  beautiful  with  so  much  promise,  crumble  into 
ashes,  dissolve  forever  in  a  fiery  embrace  of  the  red  wraith  whose  breath  is  destruction.  "  The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 


The  Earth  Girdled. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TRANSCONTINENTAL. 

'T    half    past 

nine  o'clock, 

on  the  night 

of  May  14, 
1894,  I  descend  the  front 
steps  of  my  home  in  Brook- 
lyn, New  York.  The  sen- 
sation of  leaving  for  a 
journey  around  the  world 
is  not  all  made  up  of 
bright  anticipation.  The 
miles  to  be  traveled  are 
so  numerous,  the  seas  to 
be  crossed  are  so  treacher- 
ous, the  peradventures  are 
so  great,  that  the  solemni- 
ties outnumbered  the  ex- 
pectations. My  family 
accompany  me  to  the  rail- 
way train  ; — will  we  all 
meet  again  ?  The  cli- 
matic changes,  the  ships, 
the  shoals,  the  hurricanes, 
the  bridges,  the  cars,  the 
epidemics,  the  possibili- 
ties, hinder  any  positive- 
ness  of  prophec>-.  I  come 
down  the  front  steps  of 
my  home ;  will  I  ever 
again  ascend  them  ?  The 
remark  made  by  Honor- 
able William  M.  Evarts 
a  few  evening's  before,  at 
the  public  reception  on 
the  conclusion  of  my 
twenty-fifth  year  of  Brooklyn  pastorate,  though  uttered  in  facetiousness,  was  consolatory. 
He  said  :   "  Dr.  Talmage  ought  to  realize  that  if  he  goes  around  the  world,  he  will  come 

(55) 


T.\KEN   ON   HIS  JOURNEY   AROUND   THE  WORLD,  JUI.V  27,   1S94,  AT   SYDNEY, 

.\USTRALIA. 


56  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

out  at  the  same  place  from  which  lie  started."     May  tlie  God  who  holds  the  winds  in  one 
fist,  and  the  ocean  in  the  hollow  of  the  other  hand,  protect  ns. 

I  leave  home  while  the  timbers  of  our  destroyed  church  are  still  smoking-.  Three 
great  churches  have  been  consumed.  Why  this  series  of  huge  calamities,  I  know  not.  Had 
I  not  made  all  the  arrangements  for  departure,  and  been  assured  by  the  trustees  of 
m)-  church  that  they  would  take  all  the  responsibilities  upon  themselves,  I  would  have 
postponed  my  intended  tour,  or  adjourned  it  forever ;  but  all  whom  I  have  consulted  tell  me 
now  is  the  time  to  go,  and  so  I  turn  my  face  toward  the  Golden  Gate. 

I  do  not  leave  America  because  there  are  not  wonders  enough  to  look  at  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific.     Before  any  one  leaves  this  country  for  a  tour  around  the  world  he 
otight  to  see  the  Yosemite,  Yellowstone   Park,  Alammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky  and  Lookout 
^Mountain.      On   \our  way  across   the    continent    sweep   round    by  this   last  wonder   of  the 
planet.      I  took  a  carriage  and  wound  up  Lookout  Mountain.      Up,  up,  up  !     Standing  there 
on   the  tip-top  rock  I  saw  five  States  of  the  Union.      Scene  stupendous  and  overwhelming! 
One  almost  is  disposed  to  take  off  his  hat  in  the  presence  of  what  seems  to  be  the  grandest 
prospect  on  this  continent.     There  is  Missionary  Ridge,  the  beach  against  which  the  red 
billows  of    Federal    and   Confederate    courage    surged    and    broke.     There    are    the    Blue 
^Mountains  of  North  and  South  Carolina.     With  strain  of  vision,  there  is  Kentucky,  there 
is  Virginia.     At  our  foot,  Chattanooga  and  Chickamauga,  the  pronunciation  of  which  proper 
names  will  thrill  ages  to  come  with  thoughts  of  valor  and  desperation  and  agony.     Looking 
each  way  and  any  way  from  the  top  of  that  mountain,  earthworks,  earthworks — the  beautiful 
Tennessee  winding  through  the  valley,  curling  and  coiling  around,  making  letter  "  S  "  after 
letter  "  S,"  as  if  that  letter  stood  for  shame,  that  brothers  should  have  gone  into  massacre 
with  each   other,  while  God  and  nations  looked   on.      I  have  stood  on  ]\Iount  Washington, 
and   on   the  Sierra  Nevadas,  and   on   the  Alps  ;  but  I  never  saw  so  far  as   from   the  top  of 
Lookout  Mountain.      I  looked  back   thirty-one  \-ears,  and   I  saw  rolling  up  the  side  of  that 
mountain    the   smoke  of  Hooker's   storming   part\"  while   the   foundations  of  eternal   rock 
quaked  with   the  cannonade.      Four  years  of  internecine  strife  seemed   to  come    back,  and 
without  any  chronological  order  I  saw  the  events  :   Norfolk  Nav\'  Yard  on  fire  ;   Fort  Sumter 
on   fire ;    Charleston   on   fire ;    Chambersburg   on    fire  ;    Columbia,  South    Carolina,  on    fire ; 
Richmond  on  fire.      And  I  saw  Ellsworth  fall,  and  Lyon  fall,  and  McPherson  fall,  and  Bishop 
Polk  fall,  and  Stonewall  Jackson  fall.     And  I  saw  hundreds  of  grave  trenches  afterward  cut 
into  two  great  gashes  across  the  land,  the  one  for  the  dead  men  of  the  North,  the  other  for 
the    dead  men   of   the    South.      And  ni\'   ear    as  well    as    nn-   e\e   was    quickened,   and    I 
heard  the  tramp  of  enlisting  armies,  and    I  heard   the   explosion   of  mines  and  gunpowder 
magazines,  and   the  crash  of  fortification  walls,  and  the  ''  swamp  angel,"  and  the  groan  of 
dying  hosts  falling  across  the  puLseless  heart  of  other  dying  hosts.      And  I  saw  still  further 
out,  and    I   saw  on   the   banks  of    the    Penobscot   and   the   Oregon   and   the   Ohio  and  the 
Hudson  and  the  Roanoke  and  the  Yazoo  and  the  Alabama,  widowhood  and  orphanage  and 
childlessness — some   exhausted   in   grief  and   others   stark   and   mad,  and   I  said,  "  Enough, 
enough  have  I  seen  into  the  past  from  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain.     O  God  !  show  me 
the  future."     And  standing  there,  it  was  revealed  to  me.      And  I  looked  out  and  I  saw  great 
populations  from  the  North  moving  South,  and  great  populations  from  the  South  moving 
North,  and   I    found  that  their  footsteps  obliterated  the  hoof-mark  of  the  war  chargers. 
And  I  saw  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  standing  in  the  national  cemeteries,  trumpet  in 
hand,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I  will  wake  these  soldiers  from  their  long  encampment."     And  I 
looked  and  I  saw  such  sno\v\'  harvests  of  cotton  and  such  golden  harvests  of  corn  as  I  had 


58  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

never  imagined,  and  I  found  that  the  earthworks  were  down,  and  the  gun-carriages  down, 
and  the  war  barracks  were  all  down,  and  I  saw  the  river  winding  through  the  valley, 
making  letter  "  S  "  after  letter  "  S  " — no  more  "  S  "  for  shame,  but  "  S  "  for  salvation.  And 
as  I  saw  that  all  the  weapons  of  war  were  turned  into  agricultural  implements  I  was  alarmed, 
and  I  said,  "  Is  this  safe  ?  "  And  standing  there  on  the  tip-top  rock  of  Lookout  Mountain, 
I  was  so  near  heaven  that  I  heard  two  voices  which  some  way  slipped  from  the  gate,  and 
the\-  sang,  "  Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war 
any  more."  And  I  recognized  the  two  voices.  They  were  the  voices  of  two  Christian 
soldiers  who  fell  at  Shiloh  ;  the  one  a  Federal,  the  other  a  Confederate.  And  they  were 
brothers  ! 

After  you  have  visited  that  historical  place  }-ou  had  better  come  up  by  the  Mammoth 
Cave.  With  lanterns  and  torches  and  a  guide,  we  went  down  into  that  cave.  You  may 
walk  fourteen  miles  and  see  no  sunlight.  It  is  a  wonderful  place.  Some  parts  the  roof  of 
the  cave  a  hundred  feet  high.  The  grottos  filled  with  weird  echoes,  cascades  falling  from 
invisible  height  to  invisible  depth.  Stalagmites  rising  up  from  the  floor  of  the  cave — 
stalactites  descending  from  the  roof  of  the  cave,  joining  each  other,  and  making  pillars  of 
the  Almighty's  sculpturing.  There  are  rosettes  of  amethyst  in  halls  of  gypsum.  As  the 
guide  carries  his  lantern  ahead  of  you,  the  shadows  have  an  appearance  supernatural  and 
spectral.  The  darkness  is  fearful.  Two  people,  getting  lost  from  their  guide  only  for  a  few^ 
hours,  years  ago,  were  demented,  and  for  years  sat  in  their  insanity.  You  feel  like  holding 
your  breath  as  a'ou  walk  across  the  bridges  that  seem  to  span  the  bottomless  abyss.  The 
guide  throws  his  calcium  light  down  into  the  caverns,  and  the  light  rolls  and  tosses  from 
rock  to  rock,  and  from  depth  to  depth,  making  at  every  plunge  a  new  revelation  of  the 
awful  power  that  could  have  made  such  a  place  as  that.  A  sense  of  suffocation  comes  iipon 
you  as  you  think  that  yon  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  a  straight  line  from  the  sunlit 
surface  of  the  earth.  The  guide,  after  a  while,  takes  you  into  what  is  called  the  "  Star 
Chamber,"  and  then  he  says  to  you:  "Sit  here,"  and  then  he  takes  the  lantern  and  goes 
down  under  the  rocks,  and  it  gets  darker  and  darker,  until  the  night  is  so  thick  that  the 
hand  an  inch  from  the  eye  is  tmobservable.  And  then,  by  kindling  one  of  the  lanterns, 
and  placing  it  in  a  cliff  of  the  rock,  there  is  a  reflection  cast  on  the  dome  of  the  cave,  and 
there  are  stars  coming  out  in  constellations — a  brilliant  night  heavens — and  you  involuntarily 
exclaim  :  "  Beautiful !  beautiful !  "  Then  he  takes  the  lantern  down  in  other  depths  of  the 
cavern,  and  wanders  on,  and  wanders  off,  until  he  comes  up  from  behind  the  rocks  gradually, 
and  it  seems  like  the  dawn  of  the  morning  and  it  gets  brighter  and  brighter.  The  guide 
is  a  skilled  ventriloquist,  and  he  imitates  the  voices  of  the  morning,  and  soon  the  gloom  is 
all  gone,  and  you  stand  congratulating  yourself  o\'er  the  weird  and  enchanting  spectacle. 

Before  taking  steamer  at  the  Pacific  coast,  }'ou  ought  certainly  to  visit  the  two 
National  Parks — Yosemite  and  Yellowstone  Park.  Who  that  has  seen  Yosemite  and  the 
adjoining  Californian  regions  can  think  of  them  without  having  his  blood  tingle?  Trees 
now  standing  there  that  were  old  when  Christ  lived  !  These  monarchs  of  foliage  reigned 
before  Csesar  or  Alexander,  and  the  next  thousand  years  will  not  shatter  their  sceptre! 
They  are  the  masts  of  the  continent,  their  canvas  spread  on  the  winds,  while  the  old  ship 
bears  on  its  way  through  the  ages ! 

That  valley  of  the  Yosemite  is  eight  miles  long  and  a  half-mile  wide  and  three 
thousand  feet  deep.  It  seems  as  if  it  had  been  the  meaning  of  Omnipotence  to  crowd  into 
as  small  a  place  as  possible  some  of  the  most  stupendous  scenery  of  the  world.  Some  of 
those  cliffs  you  do  not  stop  to  measiue  by  feet,  for  they  are  literally  a  mile  high.     Steep  so 


6o 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


that  neither  foot  of  man  nor  beast  ever  scaled  them,  they  stand  in  everlasting  defiance.  If 
Jehovah  has  a  throne  on  earth,  these  are  its  white  pillars  !  Standing  down  in  this  great 
chasm  of  the  valle>',  yon  look  up,  and  j-onder  is  Cathedral  Rock,  vast,  gloomy  minster  built 
for  the  silent  worship  of  the  mountains!  Yonder  is  Sentinel  Rock,  3270  feet  high,  bold, 
solitary,  standing  guard  among  the  ages,  its  top  seldom  touched,  until  a  bride,  one  Fourth 
of  July,  mounted  it  and  planted  there  the  national  standard,  and  the  people  down  in  the 
valley  looked  up  and  saw  the  head  of  the  mountain  turbaned  with  Stars  and  Stripes ! 
Yonder  are  the  Three  Brothers,  4000  feet  high  ;  Cloud's  Rest,  North  and  South  Dome,  and 
the  heights  never  captured  save  by  the  fiery  bayonets  of  the  thunder-storm  !  No  pause  for 
the  eye  ;  no  stopping-place  for  the  mind.  Mountains  hurled  on  mountains.  ]^Ionntains  in 
the  wake  of  mountains.  Mountains  flanked  by  mountains.  Mountains  split.  Mountains 
ground.  Mountains  fallen.  Mountains  triumphant.  As  though  Mont  Blanc  and  the 
Adirondacks  and    IMount  Washington  were  here  uttering  themselves  in  one   magnificent 


MATS"    •^TRHIT    ^\I.T    I    \Ki;  CITY.  WHFRl'    TITH   CITIKFS    nV    MORMnXT^At    CAME   TO   MEFT   MK. 

chorus  of  rock  and  precipice  and  waterfall.  Sifting  and  dashing  through  the  rocks,  the 
water  comes  down.  The  Bridal  Veil  Fall  .so  thin  you  can  see  the  face  of  the  mountain 
behind  it.  Yonder  is  Yosemite  Fall,  dropping  2634  feet,  sixteen  times  greater  descent 
than  that  of  Niagara.  These  waters  dashed  to  death  on  the  rocks,  so  that  the  white  spirit 
of  the  slain  waters  ascending  in  robe  of  mist  seeks  the  heavens.  Yonder  is  Nevada  Fall, 
plunging  700  feet,  the  v/ater  in  arrows,  the  water  in  rockets,  the  water  in  pearls,  the  water 
in  amethysts,  the  water  in  diamonds.  That  cascade  flings  down  the  rocks  enough  jewels 
to  array  all  the  earth  in  beauty,  and  rushes  on  until  it  drops  into  a  very  hell  of  waters,  the 
smoke  of  their  torment  ascending  forever  and  ever. 

But  the  most  wonderful  part  of  this  American  continent  is  the  Yellowstone  Park. 

My  visit  there  made  upon  me  an  impression  that  will  last  forever.  .A.fter  all  poetry 
has  exhausted  itself,  and  all   the  iMorans  and   Bierstadts  and  the  other  enchanting  artists 


a 


•^     ca* 


3 


(6i) 


62  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

have  completed  their  canvas,  there  will  be  other  revelations  to  make,  and  other  stories 
of  its  beanty  and  wrath,  splendor  and  agony,  to  be  recited.  The  Yellowstone  Park  is  the 
geologist's  paradise.  By  cheapening  of  travel  may  it  become  the  nation's  playgronnd  !  In 
some  portions  of  it  there  seems  to  be  the  anarchy  of  the  elements.  Fire  and  water,  and 
the  vapor  born  of  that  marriage  terrific.  Geyser  cones  or  hills  of  crystal  that  have  been 
over  five  thousand  years  growing !  In  places  the  earth,  throbbing,  sobbing,  groaning, 
quaking  with  aqueous  paroxysm.  At  the  expiration  of  every  sixty-five  minutes  one  of  the 
geysers  tossing  its  boiling  water  185  feet  in  the  air  and  then  descending  into  swinging 
rainbows.  Caverns  of  pictured  walls  large  enough  for  tiie  sepulchre  of  the  liuman  race. 
Formations  of  stone  in  shape  and  color  of  calla  lily,  of  heliotrope,  of  rose,  of  cowslip,  of 
sunflower,  and  of  gladiolus.  Sulphur  and  arsenic  and  oxide  of  iron,  with  their  delicate 
pencils,  turning  the  hills  into  a  Luxembourg  or  a  Vatican  picture-gallery.  The  so-called 
Thanatopsis  Geyser,  exquisite  as  the  Brj-ant  poem  it  was  named  after,  and  Evangeline 
Geyser,  lovely  as  the  Longfellow  heroine  it  commemorates. 

Wide  reaches  of  stone  of  intermingled  colors,  blue  as  the  sky,  green  as  the  foliage, 
crimson  as  the  dahlia,  white  as  the  snow,  spotted  as  the  leopard,  tawny  as  the  lion,  grizzly 
as  the  bear,  in  circles,  in  angles,  in  stars,  in  coronets,  in  stalactites,  in  stalagmites.  Here 
and  there  are  petrified  growths,  or  the  dead  trees  and  vegetation  of  other  ages,  kept  through 
a  process  of  natural  embalmment.  In  some  places  waters  as  innocent  and  smiling  as  a 
child  making  a  first  attempt  to  walk  from  its  mother's  lap,  and  not  far  off"  as  foaming  and 
frenzied  and  ungovernable  as  a  maniac  in  struggle  with  his  keepers. 

But  after  you  have  wandered  along  the  geyserite  enchantment  for  days,  and  begin  to 
feel  that  there  can  be  nothing  more  of  interest  to  see,  you  suddenly  come  upon  the 
peroration  of  all  majesty  and  grandeur,  the  Grand  Canon.  It  is  here  that  it  seems  to  me 
— and  I  speak  it  with  reverence — Jehovah  seems  to  have  surpassed  Himself.  It  seems  a 
great  gulch  let  down  into  the  eternities.  Here,  hung  up  and  let  down,  and  spread  abroad 
are  all  the  colors  of  land  and  sea  and  sky.  Upholstering  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty.  Best 
work  of  the  Architect  of  worlds.  Sculpturing  by  the  Infinite.  Masonry  by  an  omnipotent 
trowel.  Yellow!  \^ou  never  saw  yellow  unless  you  saw  it  there.  Red!  Y'ou  never  saw 
red  unless  you  saw  it  there.  Violet !  Y'ou  never  saw  violet  unless  you  saw  it  there. 
Triumphant  banners  of  color.  In  a  cathedral  of  basalt.  Sunrise  and  Sunset  married  by  the 
setting  of  rainbow  ring. 

Gothic  arches,  Corinthian  capitals,  and  Egyptian  basilicas  built  before  human 
architecture  was  born.  Huge  fortifications  of  granite  constructed  before  war  forged  its 
first  cannon.  Gibraltars  and  Sebastopols  that  never  can  be  taken.  Alhambras,  where  kings 
of  strength  and  queens  of  beauty  reigned  long  before  the  first  earthly  crown  was  empearled. 
Thrones  on  which  no  one  but  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth  ever  sat.  Fount  of  waters  at 
which  the  hills  are  baptized,  while  the  giant  cliffs  stand  round  as  sponsors.  For  thousands 
of  years  before  that  scene  was  unveiled  to  human  sight,  the  elements  were  busy,  and  the 
geysers  were  hewing  away  with  their  hot  chi.sel,  arid  glaciers  were  pounding  with  their 
cold  hammers,  and  hurricanes  were  cleaving  with  their  lightning  strokes,  and  hailstones 
giving  the  finishing  touches,  and  after  all  these  forces  of  nature  had  done  their  best,  in  our 
century  the  curtain  dropped,  and  the  world  had  a  new  and  divinely  inspired  revelation.  The 
Old  Testament  written  on  papyrus,  the  New  Testament  written  on  parchment,  and  this  last 
Testament  written  on  the  rocks. 

Hanging  over  one  of  the  cliffs,  I  looked  off"  until  I  could  not  get  my  breath  ;  then 
retreating  to  a  less  exposed  place  I  looked  down  again.      Down  there  is  a  pillar  of  rock  that 


& 


64 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


ill  certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  looks  like  a  pillar  of  blood.  Yonder  are  fifty  feet 
of  emerald  on  a  base  of  five  hundred  feet  of  opal.  Wall  of  chalk  restinj^  on  pedestals  of 
beryl.  Turrets  of  light  tumbling  on  floors  of  darkness.  The  brown  brightening  into 
o-olden.  Snow  of  crvstal  melting  into  fire  of  carbuncle.  Flaming  red  cooling  into  russet. 
Cold  blue  warming  into  saffron.  Dull  gray  kindling  into  solferino.  Morning  twilight 
flushing;  midnight  shadows.     Auroras  crouching  among  rocks. 

Yonder  is  an  eagle's  nest  on  a  shaft  of  basalt.  Through  an  eye-glass  we  see  among  it 
the  young  eagles,  but  the  stoutest  arm  of  our  group  cannot  hurl  a  stone  near  enough  to 
disturb  the  feathered  domesticity.  Yonder  are  heights  that  would  be  chilled  with  horror 
but  for  the  warm  robe  of  forest  foliage  with  which  they  are  enwrapped.  Altars  of  worship 
at  which  nations  might  kneel.  Domes  of  chalcedony  on  temples  of  porphyry.  See  all  this 
carnage  of  color  up  and  down  the  cliffs  ;   it  must  have  been  the  battlefield  of  the  war  of  the 


EROAIIMOOR   CASINO   AND   CHEVINNI.    MiHxlAlN.   i  i  1 1..  .1;  \  l  "  i    -I  KINGS. 

elements  !  Here  are  all  the  colors  of  the  wall  of  heaven  ;  neither  the  .sapphire,  nor  the 
chrysolite,  nor  the  topaz,  nor  the  jacinth,  nor  the  amethyst,  nor  the  jasper,  nor  the  twelve 
gates  of  twelve  pearls,  wanting.  If  spirits  bound  from  earth  to  heaven  could  pass  up  by 
way  of  this  canon,  the  dash  of  heavenly  beauty  would  not  be  so  overpowering.  It  would 
onlv  be  from  glory  to  glory.  Ascent  through  such  earthly  scenery,  in  wliich  the  crystal  is 
so  bright,  would  be  fit  preparation  for  the  ".sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire." 

Standing  there  in  the  Grand  Caiion  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  for  the  most  part  we 
held  our  peace,  but  after  a  while  it  flashed  upon  me  with  such  power  I  could  not  help  but 
.say  to  my  comrades:  "What  a  Hall  this  would  be  for  the  la.st  Judgment!  See  tliat 
mighty  cascade  with  the  rainbows  at  the  foot  of  it !  Those  waters  congealed  and  transfixed 
with  the  agitations  of  that  day,  what  a  place  they  would  make  for  the  shining  feet  of  tlie 
Judge  of  quick  and  dead  !  And  those  rainbows  look  now  like  the  crowns  to  be  cast  at  His 
feet.     At  the  bottom  of  this  great  canon  is  a  floor  on  which  the  nations  of  the  earth  might 


66 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


4 


stand,  and  all  up  and  down  these  galleries  of  rock  the  nations  of  heaven  might  sit.  And 
what  reverberation  of  archangels'  trumpet  there  -would  be  through  all  these  gorges  and 
from  all  these  caverns  and  over  all  these  heights.  Why  should  not  the  greatest  of  all  the 
days  the  world  shall  ever  see  close  amid  the  grandest  scener\-  Omnipotence  ever  built? 

Oh,  the  sweep  of  the  American  continent !  Sailing  up  Puget  Sound,  I  said,  "  This  is 
the  Mediterranean  of  America."  Visiting  Portland  and  Tacoma  and  Seattle  and  Victoria 
and  Fort  Townsend  and  \'ancouver,  and  other  cities  of  the  northwest  region,  I  thought  to 
myself:  These  are  the  Bostons,  New  Yorks,  Charlestons  and  Savannahs  of  the  Pacific 
coast.     But  after  all,  I  found   that  I  had  seen  only  a  part  of  the  American  continent,  for 


GRAND    CAMJX    01'    Tllli    COI.UKADO. 


Alaska  is  as  far  west  of  San  Francisco  as  the  coast  of  Maine  is  east  of  it,  so  that  the  central 
city  of  the  American  continent  is  San  Francisco. 

Six  times  before  this  have  I  crossed  the  American  Continent,  and  I  have  seen  the  sun 
rise  from  the  golden  cradle  of  the  eastern  sky  and  seen  him  buried  beneath  the  pomp  of 
the  western  horizon.  Three  girths  have  been  put  around  the  American  Continent ;  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Southern  Pacific.  All  these  girths  have  been 
tightened,  and  the  buckles  are  moving  from  one  puncture  to  another  until  the  continent  is 
less  and  less  in  circumference.  When  I  first  crossed  it,  it  took  fully  seven  days.  Instead  of 
the  elegant  dining  cars  of  to-day,  we  stopped  at  restaurants  with  table  covers  indescribable, 
for  they  had  on  them  layers  of  other  strata  of  breakfasts  insulting  in  appearance.  The  first 
time  I  ever  saw  Judge  Field,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  was  at  cue  of  these  tables 
on  the  Rocky  Mountains. 


DEVIL'S   SLIDE.    WEBER   CANON,    UTAH. 

A  misnamed  place,  for  Satan  never  had  anything  to  do  with  such  grandeur. 


(67) 


CHAPTER  II. 


ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT. 


OUR  journey  across  the  continent  was  prosperous.     One  day,  however,  was  bounded 
on  one  side  by  a  broken  bridge  and  on  the  other  by  an   avalanche  of  rocks. 
Before  rising  in    the  morning  the  Pulhnan  sleeper  gave  a  Iialf  dozen  angr}- 
jerks,   showing  that  we  were  derailed,  or  that  the  track  was    deranged.     The 
train  halted,  and   it  was   found    that   a  bridge    had   been  washed    loose    by  a    mountain 
torrent,  and  the  track  was  crooked  and  uneven  and  ready  to  fall.     But  it  held  us  until 
we  got  over.     We  all  stood  and  looked  at  the  broken  bridge  and  felt  thankful  to  have 


crossed  without    damage. 


Indeed    that    broken   bridge  attracted    more    of   our    attention 


THE   BREAKING   RAII^ROAD   BRIDGE   THAT  WE   PASSED   OVER. 

than  the  hundreds  of  faithful  bridges  that  had  put  us  across  the  chasms,  and  those  few 
crooked  rails,  than  the  two  thousand  miles  of  track  that  had  kept  straight  while  we 
passed  over  it.  So  it  is  in  all  kinds  of  life,  one  crooked  man  excites  more  attention 
than  a  hundred  thousand  who  preserve  their  integrity  or  maintain  their  usefulness,  and 
one  man  who  breaks  down  imder  the  heavy  pressure  of  .life  is  more  remarked  upon  than 
whole  communities  of  men  who  stand  firm  and  true,  though  long  trains  of  disaster  roll 

(68) 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  69 

over  them.  Thousands  of  homes  moving  on  quietly  and  happily  make  not  so  much 
excitement  as  one  family  derailed  by  infelicity,  or  gone  down  the  divorce  embankment. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  banks,  of  insurance  companies,  of  monetary  institutions  day  by  day 
causing  no  remark,  but  one  absconding  cashier  converges  all  the  pens  and  all  the  types 
and  all  the  eyes  of  a  nation  upon  the  one  recalcitrant.  Thousands  of  consecrated  men  are 
preaching  the  Gospel  and  doing  their  work  year  after  year,  and  nothing  especial  is  said  of 
them,  but  some  man  in  canonicals  gets  off  the  track  about  who  wrote  the  Pentateuch  or 
about  the  miracles,  or  about  immortality,  and  all  Christendom  is  shaken.  The  theological 
professors  who,  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  have  become  famous  would  never  have  been 
heard  of,  if  they  had  not  got  off  the  track.  It  was  not  an  excess  of  brain  or  consecration 
that  made  the  disturbance,  but  the  big  jolt  they  gave  the  churches.  A  sudden  wash-out 
loosened  the  pier  of  one  of  the  bridges.  The  day  in  Colorado  of  which  I  spoke  as  opened 
with  a  disrupted  bridge,  closed  with  a  descent  of  rocks  directly  across  our  iron  way.  After 
several  hours  of  attempt  by  the  railroad  men  to  remove  the  obstruction  the  moinitains 
roared  with  an  explosion.  What  lever  and  wedge  and  crowbar  failed  to  do,  powder 
accomplished,  and  the  rocks  which  had  rolled  down  from  one  side  the  gorge,  rolled  over 
to  the  other.  The  saying  that  the  age  of  miracles  is  passed  is  an  untrue  saying.  Every 
mile  of  tlie  great  transcontinental  railroad  is  a  miracle,  }ea  twice  a  miracle,  a  miracle  of 
Divine  power  that  heaved  up  the  mountains,  and  a  miracle  of  human  engineering  by  which 
they  were  gashed  and  tunneled.  But  do  you  know  what  in  some  respects  is  the  most 
remarkable  thing  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ?  It  is  the  figure  of  a  cross  on  a  mountain 
in  Colorado.  It  is  called  the  "  ]\Iount  of  the  Hol\'  Cross."  A  horizontal  crevice  filled  with 
perpetual  snow,  and  a  perpendicular  crevice  filled  with  snow,  but  both  the  horizontal  line 
and  the  perpendicular  line  so  marked,  so  bold,  so  significant,  so  unmistakable  that  all  who 
pass  in  the  da\time  within  many  miles  are  compelled  to  see  it.  There  are  some  figures, 
some  contours,  some  mountain  appearances  that  you  gradually  make  out  after  your  attention 
is  called  to  them.  So  a  man's  face  on  the  rocks  in  the  White  Mountains.  vSo  a  maiden's 
form  cut  in  the  granite  of  the  Adirondacks.  So  a  city  in  the  morning  clouds.  Yet  you 
have  to  look  under  the  pointing  of  your  friend  or  guide  for  some  time  before  you  can  see 
the  similarit\-.  But  the  first  instant  \'ou  glance  at  this  side  of  the  mountain  in  Colorado 
you  cry  out  "  A  cross !  A  cross  !  "  Do  >'ou  say  that  this  geological  inscription  just  happens 
so?  No!  nothing  in  this  world  just  happens  so.  That  cross  on  the  Colorado  Mountain 
is  not  a  h.uman  device,  or  an  accident  of  nature,  or  the  freak  of  an  earthquake.  The  hand 
of  God  cut  it  there  and  set  it  up  for  the  nation  to  look  at.  Whether  set  up  there  in  rock 
before  the  cross  of  wood  was  set  up  on  the  bluff  back  of  Jerusalem,  or  set  at  some  time  since 
that  a.s.sassination,  I  believe  the  Creator  meant  it  to  suggest  the  most  notable  event  in  all 
the  history  of  this  planet,  and  He  hung  it  there  over  the  heart  of  this  continent  to  indicate 
that  the  only  hope  for  this  nation  is  in  the  Cross  on  which  our  Innnanuel  died.  The  clouds 
were  vocal  at  our  Sa\'iour's  birth,  the  rocks  rent  at  His  martyrdom,  why  not  the  walls  of 
Colorado  bear  the  record  of  the  crucifi.xion  ?  I  take  it  that  this  engraving  on  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  places  of  the  American  continent  means  that  this  country  belongs  to 
Christ,  and  that  He  will  }-et  take  possession  of  all  of  it.  Human  device  has  baptized  with 
Satanic  nomenclature  much  of  the  scenery  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  some  of 
the  rocks  are  called  the  "Devil's  Pulpit,"  and  the  "Devil's  Saw  Mill,"  and  the  "Devil's 
Spinning  Wheel,"  and  the  "  Devil's  Slide,"  and  is  it  not  high  time  that  the  world  finds  out 
that  the  Devil  is  as  poor  now  as  when  on  the  top  of  the  Temple,  and  not  owning  an  acre  of 
real  estate,  he  offered  Christ  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  and  that  instead  of  the  human  and 


(1^) 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


71 


blasphemous  assigning  of  this  or  tliat  part  of  the  continent  to  Diabolus,  we  take  this 
high-up  and  stupendous  sign  on  tiie  Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross  in  Colorado  as  t}'pical  of  the 
fact  that  to  Christ  belongs  this  continent  ? 

I  closed  this  journey  across  the  continent  at  the  gates  of  the  International  Fair  at  San 
Francisco.  Last  autumn  Mr.  De  Young,  a  great  leader  in  California  affairs,  was  seated  in 
a  room  in  Chicago,  and  a  foreigner  said  he  would  like  to  make  another  exhibit  of  his 
country's  fabrics  before  leaving  America.  Mr.  De  Young  retired  to  his  room  and  with  his 
pencil  began  to  calculate  the  possibility  of  making  a  success  of  a  Midwinter  Fair  in  San 
Francisco.  Believing  that  it  could  be  done  he  called  together  some  prominent  Californians, 
and  a  large  subscription  of  mone}'  was  made,  and  the  maniuioth  undertaking  was  set 
on  foot.  Considering  the  short  time  that  was  allowed  for  the  arrangements,  and  that  no 
Congressional  aid  was  voted,  it  is  the  most  wonderful  Fair  ever  held  on  this  continent.     The 


CHINATOWN,  SAN   FRANCISCO,  AS   SHOWN   ME   EV   THE   CITY   AUTHORITIKS. 

architecture,  the  fountains,  the  statuary,  the  fruits  for  size  and  abundance  and  lusciousness 
unparalleled,  and  the  immensity  of  the  Fair  makes  it  one  of  the  great  poems  of  the  century. 
The  day  I  visited  it  was  the  National  Memorial  Day,  commemorative  of  those  fallen  in 
the  battles  of  our  civil  war,  and  at  the  same  time  it  was  a  holiday.  I  had  been  invited  by 
the  officers  of  tlie  Fair  to  deliver  the  oration,  and  so  after  a  banquet  given  to  me  by  the 
Director-General,  I  confronted  an  audience  crowded  almost  beyond  endurance  with  the 
story  of  the  prowess  and  the  self-sacrifice  of  those  who  died  for  the  countr>-,  and  concluded 
by  saying : 

The  greatest  dav  I  ever  saw  was  when  some  of  j'ou  were  present,  the  day  when  the 
armies,  returned  from  our  civil  war,  passed  in  review  at  Washington.  I  care  not  whether 
you  were  a  Northern  man  or  a  Southern  man,  you  could  not  have  looked  on  without  tears. 
God  knew  that  the  day  was  stupendous,  and  He  cleared  the  heavens  of  cloud  and  mist  and 


72  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

chill,  and  sprung  the  blue  sky  as  a  triumphal  arch  for  the  returning  warriors  to  pass  under. 
From  Arlington  Heights  the  spring  foliage  shook  out  its  welcome  as  the  hosts  came  over 
the  hills,  and  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  Potomac  tossed  their  gold  to  the  feet  of  the 
battalions,  as  they  came  to  the  Long  Bridge  and  in  almost  interminable  line  passed  over. 
The  Capitol,  for  whose  defence  these  men  had  fought,  never  seemed  so  majestic  as  that 
morning,  snow}'  white,  looking  down  upon  the  tides  of  men  that  came  surging  on,  billow 
after  billow.  Darius  and  Xerxes  saw  no  such  hosts  as  those  that  marched  in  our  three  great 
armies  of  Potomac,  Tennessee  and  Georgia.  Those  ancient  rulers  fought  for  fame ;  these 
were  the  heroes  of  the  Union.  Passing  in  silence,  yet  I  heard  in  every  step  the  thunder  of 
conflicts  through  which  they  had  waded,  and  seemed  to  see  dripping  from  their  smoke- 
blackened  flags  the  blood  of  our  country's  martyrs.  For  the  best  part  of  two  days  we  sat 
and  watched  the  filing  on  of  what  seemed  endless  ranks ;  brigade  after  lirigade  ;  division 
after  division  ;  host  after  host ;  rank  beyond  rank  ;  ever  moving,  ever  passing,  marching, 
marching  !  Tramp  !  Tramp  !  Tramp  !  These  fought  in  the  Wilderness.  Those  rode  in 
lightning  stirrups  behind  cavalry  Sheridan.  These  men  were  at  Chattanooga.  Those 
stood  on  Lookout  Mountain.  These  followed  their  captain  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea,  holding 
the  same  flag,  lifting  the  same  sword,  marching,  marching.  Tramp  !  Tramp !  Tramp ! 
Thousands  after  thousands  ;  battery  front  ;  arms  shouldered  ;  columns  solid  ;  shoulder  to 
shoulder ;  wheel  to  wheel ;  charger  to  charger  ;  nostril  to  nostril  ;  commanders  on  horses 
with  mane  entwined  with  roses  and  necks  enchained  with  garlands  ;  fractious  at  the  shouts 
that  ran  along  the  line,  increasing  from  the  clapping  of  children  clothed  in  white,  standing 
on  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  to  the  tumultuous  vociferations  of  two  hundred  thousand 
of  enraptured  people  crying  Huzza  !  Huzza  !  Gleaming  muskets  ;  thundering  parks  of 
artillery  ;  rumbling  pontoon  wagons  ;  ambulances  from  whose  wheels  seemed  to  sound  out 
the  groan  of  the  crushed  and  the  dying  whom  thev  had  carried.  These  men  came  from 
balmy  Minnesota.  Those  from  Illinois  prairie.  These  were  often  hummed  to  sleep  by  the 
pines  of  Oregon.  Those  were  New  England  lumbermen.  These  came  from  the  Golden 
Gate  of  the  Pacific.  Those  came  out  of  the  coal  shafts  of  Pennsylvania.  Side  by  side,  in 
one  great  cause  consecrated,  througli  fire  and  storm  and  darkness,  brothers  in  peril  on  their 
way  home  from  Chancellorsville  and  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  Fredericksburg.  In  lines  that 
seemed  infinite,  they  pass  on.  We  gazed  and  wept  and  wondered,  lifting  up  our  eyes  to 
see  if  the  end  had  come.  But  no  !  looking  from  one  end  of  that  long  a\-enue  to  the  other 
we  see  them  yet  in  solid  column  ;  battery  front  ;  host  beside  host  ;  wheel  to  wheel  ;  charger  to 
charger ;  nostril  to  nostril  ;  coming  as  it  were  from  under  the  Capitol.  Forward  !  Forward  ! 
their  bayonets,  caught  in  the  sun,  glimmer  and  flash  and  blaze  till  they  seem  like  one  long 
river  of  silver,  ever  and  anon  changed  into  a  river  of  fire.  No  end  to  the  procession,  no 
rest  for  the  eyes.  We  avert  our  head  from  the  scene,  unable  longer  to  look.  We  feel 
disposed  to  stop  our  ears  ;  but  still  we  hear  it.  Marching,  marching.  Tramp  !  Tramp ! 
Tramp !  But  Imsh  !  uncover  every  head.  Here  the\'  pass,  the  remnant  of  ten  men  of  a 
once  full  regiment.  Silence  !  Widowhood  and  orphanage  look  on  and  wring  their  hands. 
Uncover  every  head  !  But  wheel  into  the  ranks  all  ye  people,  North,  South,  East,  West, 
all  decades,  all  centuries,  all  millenniums.     Forward  the  whole  line  !     Huzza  !     Huzza  ! 

I  have  safely  arrived  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  A  startling  question  was  a.sked  me  just 
before  I  reached  here.  I  was  in  deep  slumber  in  a  section  of  a  sleeping  car  when  the 
curtain  was  pushed  back  and  a  venerable  lady  seized  hold  of  me  and  shrieked  out :  "  Who 
are  you,  and  what  are  }-ou  doing  here  ?  "  It  was  a  sudden  calling  of  the  roll  of  passengers, 
and  I  did  not  feel  like  answering  to  my  name.     The  question  was  repeated  in  more  earnest- 


THE  WORLD  AS  vSEEN   TO-DAY. 


73 


ness  and  with  louder  voice.  I  could  not  at  first  understand  why  the  interrogation  as  to  my 
identit}-,  but  after  gathering  my  senses  together  I  mildly  suggested  that  perhaps  she  had 
taken  my  place  for  her  own.  This  was  no  doubt  the  case,  and  she  made  a  quick  retreat. 
The  fact  is  that  the  sections  and  berths  of  a  sleeping  car  are  very  much  alike.  The  new 
mode  of  hanging  the  number  of  the  berth  in  large  figures  on  the  outside  of  the  drapery  of 
the. sleeping  place  is  a  great  improvement;  but  midnight  perambulation,  even  under  the 
best  of  circumstances,  is  more  or  less  confusing.  The  mistake  that  the  venerable  lady 
made  is  a  mistake  that  thousands  of  people  make,  for  they  think  some  one  else  has  their 
place.  Most  of  the  struggle  in  the  world  is  in  tr}ing  to  get  some  one  else's  berth.  Better 
go  back  contented  and  take  the  place  assigned  you.  In  trving  to  get  some  one  else's  place, 
we  may  lose  our  own  without  getting  his.  I  cannot  jeer  at  the  old  lady's  mistake,  for  that 
night  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  I  bethought  myself  that  there  are,  during  every 
Presidential  campaign,  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  people  trying  to  get  the  berths  of  the 
one  hundred  thousand  present  occupants.  Good  bye,  my  friends  all  over!  On  the  other 
side  of  the  world  I  will  think  of  those  who  have  put  me  under  obligation,  and  the  first 
hour  I  have  passed  the  latitude  and  longitude  farthest  away  from  home,  and  begin  to 
return,  I  will  count  the  weeks  and  days  that  stand  between  me  and  the  lowest  step  of  the 
front  door  from  which,  on  the  evening  of  May  14,  I  departed. 


W^^"*^^  "^"^ 


CHAPTER    III. 


PARADISE   OF    THE    PACIFIC. 

IT  was  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  at  San  Francisco  I  stepped  aboard  the 
Alameda,  of  the  Oceanic  Steamship  Company,  our  Captain  Morse,  one  of  the  most 
genial,  popular  and  able  commanders  who  ever  sailed  the  seas.  He  and  the 
Pacific  r)cean  are  old  acquaintances.  He  has  been  in  seventeen  hurricanes  and 
safely  out-rode  them.  Profusion  of  flowers  were  sent  up  the  gang-plank  and  the  masses  of 
people  on  the  wharf  who  had  come  to  see  their  friends  off,  waved  handkerchiefs  and  threw 

kisses  and  cried  and  laughed  as  is 
usual  when  an  ocean  steamer  is 
about  to  start.  The  gong  sounded 
for  the  leaving  of  all  those  from 
the  ship's  deck  who  did  not  expect 
to  accompany  us.  The  whistle 
blew  for  loosening  from  the  wharf 
and  the  screw  began  to  whirl  and 
the  ship  moved  out  toward  the 
Golden  Gate. 

The  Pacific  Ocean  met  us  with 
waves  high  enough  to  send  many 
to  their  berths,  and  to  arouse  in  the 
rest  of  us  the  question  why  so 
rough  a  sea  should  be  called  the 
Pacific.  And  for  two  days  the  roll, 
the  jerk,  the  rise,  the  fall,  the  lunge, 
the  tremor,  the  quake  spoiled  the 
appetite  and  hid  from  sight  the  ma- 
jority of  the  passengers.  But  after 
the  third  day  the  ocean  and  the 
ship  ceased  their  wrestling,  and 
Peace  smoothed  the  waves  and 
hushed  the  winds,  for  the  same 
Lord  who  took  a  short  walk  upon 
rough  Galilee  takes  a  longer  walk 
upon  Pacific  seas.  Different  from 
most  voyages,  there  seemed  no  dis- 
agreeables on  board.  Enough  pas- 
sengers to  avoid  loneliness  ;  not  so 
many  as  to  be  crowded.  What 
difference  between  a  sea-voyage 
now,  with  all  comforts  afforded  and 
the  table  containing  all  the  luxuries 


CAPTAIN    MORSE,   OF    THE    ALAMEDA. 


(74) 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


75 


that  can  allure  a  weak  appetite,  and  those  days  when  the  missionaries  crossed  to  Honolulu 
in  vessels  greasy  and  rude,  and  with  food  rancid  or  stale,  and  with  sail  full  of  whims,  now 
full-curved,  and  now  limp  and  idle. 

Politics  have  never  done  much  for  the  Sandwich  Islands.  If  a  man  have  no  expecta- 
tions for  these  gems  of  the  Pacific  except  that  which  comes  from  human  legislation,  I 
would  think  he  would  be  as  despairful  as  was  Kamehameha  III.,  King  of  Sandwich 
Islands,  when  on  his  dying  bed,  he  said,  "  What  is  to  become  of  my  poor  country  ?  There  is 
uo  one  to  follow  me.  Queen  Emma  I  do  not  trust ;  Sunalilo  is  a  drunkard,  and  Kalakaua 
is  a  fool."  All  that  has  been  done  for  the  Hawaiian  Islands  has  been  done  by  our  gracious 
God  and  the  missionaries.  A  foreign  ship  brought  to  these  islands  the  mosquitoes.  The 
foreign  sailors  brought  them  the  leprosy.  American  politics  brought  them  the  devil.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  Gospel,  those  islands  would  still  have  been  putting  to  death  women 
for  eating  bananas 
when  forbidden  to 
do  so,  bowing  to  a 
disgusting  idolatry, 
and  in  al-1  of  the 
islands  would  have 
been  a  midnight  ot 
cruelty  and  abomi- 
nation. 

THE    AXXEX.\TION 
QUESTION. 

But  the  mission- 
aries came,  and  in 
eight  years  12,000 
people  gathered 
into  the  churches, 
and  26,000  ch  i  1- 
dren  into  schools 
proposing  a  Chris- 
tian civilization, 
which  now  holds 
a  beautiful  suprem- 
acy over  the  Sandwich  Islands.  There  are  two  great  parties  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands :  royal- 
ists, who  want  the  Queen,  and  annexationists,  who  want  to  come  under  our  Eagle's  wing. 
Neither  of  them  will  triumph.  The  final  result  will  be  a  republic  by  itself,  of  which 
the  present  government  is  an  antepast.  The  Hawaiian  nation  is  strong  enough  to  stand 
alone.  Because  a  nation  is  not  gigantic  is  no  more  reason  why  it  should  not  have  self- 
control  than  a  man  with  limited  resources  of  physical  or  financial  strength  should  be 
denied  independence.  If  God  had  intended  Honolulu  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  He 
would  have  planted  it  hundreds  of  miles  nearer  our  American  coast.  The  United  States 
Government  is  not  so  hungry  for  more  land  that  it  needs  to  be  fed  on  a  few  chunks  of 
island  brought  from  1800  miles  away.  No  danger  that  some  other  foreign  nation  shall 
take  possession  of  the  island,  and  give  us  trouble  when  we  want  to  run  into  Honolulu  for 
the  coaling  and  watering  of  our  ships.     With  some  ironsides  from   our  new  navy  and  the 


THE  .\I,.\MEDA  PASSING  THE  GOLDEN  GATE. 

Just  as  it  looked  that  day  of  our  departure. 


76 


THE  EARTH   GIRDLED. 


aid  of  our  friends  on  the  island,  we  would  knock  into  smithereens  such  foreign  impertinence. 
Beside  that,  if  we  become  as  a  nation  a  great  maritime  power,  and  we  will,  none  of  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  would  decline  ns  sheltering  harbor  or  supply  for  our  ships.  What 
thouoh  the\'  belonged  to  other  nations,  they  would  sell  us  all  we  want.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  own  a  store  in  order  to  purchase  goods  from  it. 

HAW.\IIAN    PROGRESS. 

These  are  venerable  islands.  Those  who  can  translate  the  language  of  the  rocks  and 
the  language  of  human  bones  say  that  these  islands  have  been  inhabited  1400  years  at 
least.  When  found  in  1778,  they  were  old  places  of  human  habitation.  The  most  unique 
illustration  in  all  the  world  of  what  pure  and  simple  Christianity  can  do  is  here.     Before 

this  supernatural  force  began,  infanticide  was  com- 
mon, and  not  b}-  mildest  form  of  assassination, 
but  buried  alive.  Demented  people  were  mur- 
dered ;  old  people  were  allowed  to  die  of  neglect. 
Polygamy  in  its  worst  form  reigned  ;  and  it  was 
as  easy  for  a  man  to  throw  away  his  wife  as  to 
pitch  an  apple  core  into  the  sea.  Superstitions 
blackened  the  earth  and  the  heavens.  Christianity 
found  the  Sandwich  Islands  a  hell,  and  turned 
them  into  a  semi-heaven.  As  in  all  the  other  re- 
I  ^^  %  gions  where   Christianity  triumphed,  it  was    ma- 

ligned by  those  who  came  from  other  lands  to 
practice  their  iniquities.  Loose  foreigners  were 
angered  because  they  were  hindered  in  their  disso- 
luteness by  a  new  element  they  had  never  before 
confronted. 

"  There  is  Honolulu,"  cried  many  voices  this 
morning  from  the  deck  of  the  Alameda.  These 
islands,  called  by  many  an  archipelago,  I  call  the 
"  Constellation  of  the  Pacific,"  for  they  seem  not 
so  much  to  have  grown  up,  as  alighted  from  the 
heavens.  The  bright,  the  redolent,  the  umbra- 
geous, the  floralized,  the  orcharded,  the  forested, 
the  picturesque  Hawaiian  Islands!  They  came  in 
upon  us  as  much  as  we  came  in  upon  them  in 
the  morning.  Captain  Cook  no  more  discovered 
them  in  1778  than  we  discovered  them  to-day.  He  saw  them  for  the  first  time  for  himself, 
and  we  see  them  for  the  first  time  this  morning  for  ounselves.  IMore  fortunate  are  we  than 
Captain  Cook.  He  looked  out  upon  them  from  a  filthy  boat,  and  wound  up  his  experiences 
by  furnishing  his  body  as  the  chops  and  steaks  of  a  savage's  breakfast.  We  from  a  graceful 
ship  alight  amid  herbage  and  arborescence,  and  shall  depart  with  the  good  wishes  and 
prayers  from  all  the  islanders. 

HIGH   OFFICI.^L   COURTESIES. 

As  you  approach  the  harbor  there  is  in  sight  a  long  line  of  surf  rolling  over  reefs  of 
coral.       High  mountains,  hurricane-cleft  and  lightning-split,  but  their  wounds  bandaged 


DR.  TALMAGE   ON   STEAMER   ALAMEDA 
CROSSING   THE   PACIFIC. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN  TO-DAY. 


77 


with  the  green  of  perennial  foliage.  In  a  few  minutes  after  landing  a  chamberlain  of  the 
e.x-Oueen  called  to  invite  us  to  her  mansion,  and  Chief  Justice  Judd  called  with  a  delegation 
to  ask  me  to  preach  that  afternoon.  I  accepted  the  invitation  brought  by  the  chamberlain 
and  was  beautifully  entertained  by  the  Queen.  With  President  Dole,  of  the  Provisional 
Government,  and  Chief  Justice  Judd,  I  went  to  the  Executive  Buildings,  which  were 
formerly  the  Palace.  The  Council  of  the  President  were  already  assembled  in  what  was 
originally  the  Throne  Room,  and  taking  the  chair  on  the  platform  he  called  for  order  and 
then  rose,  and  all  the  Councillors  arose  with  him  and  he  led  them  in  prayer,  saying,  as  near 
as  I  can  remember :  "  O  Lord,  God  of  Nations  !  we  ask  Thy  direction  in  the  matters  that 
shall  come  before  us.  Give  us  wisdom,  and  prudence,  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  oiir  duties 
and  Thou  shalt  have  all  the  praise,  world   without  end,  Amen."     I   have   not  been  told 


HAkHilK     111'     HllMll.L'l.l'. 


whether  most  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  have  opened  their  cabinet  meetings  in 
that  way,  but  it  certainly  is  a  good  way. 

At  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  Congregational  Church  was  packed  to  overflowing 
with  a  multitude,  about  one-half  native  Hawaiians  and  the  other  half  people  of  many  lands. 
It  was  amazing  to  me  that  with  such  a  short  notice  of  a  few  hours  such  a  throng  could  be 
gathered.  But  the  Honolulu  papers  have  been  publishing  my  sermons  for  years  and  it  was 
really  a  gathering  of  old  friends.  An  interpreter  stood  beside  me  in  the  pulpit  and  with 
marvelous  ease  translated  what  I  said  into  the  Hawaiian  language.  It  was  such  a  scene 
as  I  never  before  witnessed,  and  I  shall  never  see  it  repeated.  After  shaking  hands  with 
tl'.ousands  of  people  I  went  out  in   the  most  delicious  atmosphere  and  sat  down   under  the 


78 


THE   £ARTH   GIRDLED. 


palm  trees.  What  a  bewitcliinent  of  scenery  !  Wliat  heartiness  of  hospitality  !  The 
Hawaiians  have  no  superiors  for  geniality  and  kindness  in  all  the  world.  In  physical 
presence  they  are  wondrous  specimens  of  good  health  and  stalwartness.  One  Hawaiian 
could  wrestle  down  two  of  our  nation. 


A    LAND    OF    FLOWERS. 


Banks  of  flowers  white  as  snow,  or  blue  as  skies,  or  3-ellow  as  sunsets,  or  starry  as 
November  nights,  or  red  as  battlefields.  A  heaven  of  flowers.  Flowers  entwined  in 
maidens'  hair,  and  twisted  round  hats,  and  hung  on  necks,  and  embroidered  on  capes  and 
sacks.      Tuberoses,  gardenias,  magnolias,  passifloras,  trumpet-creepers,  oleanders,  geraniums, 


MGUr   SCENE    IN    THE    CRATER   OF    THE   VOLCANO    OF    KII.AUEA,    HAWAII. 

fuchsias,  convolvuli  and  hibiscus  red  as  fire.  Jessamine,  which  we  in  America  carefully  coax 
to  climb  the  wall  just  once,  here  running  up  and  down  and  jumping  over  to  the  other  side 
and  coming  back  again  to  jump  down  this  side. 

Night-blooming  cereus,  so  rare  in  our  northern  latitude  we  call  in  our  neighbors  to  see 
it,  and  they  must  come  right  away  or  never  see  it  at  all,  here  in  these  islands  scattering  its 
opulence  of  perfume  on  all  the  nights  ;  and,  not  able  to  expend  enough  in  the  darkness,  also 
flooding  the  day.  Struggling  to  surpass  each  other  all  kinds  of  trees,  whether  of  fruit  or  of 
rich  garniture,  mango,  and  orange,  and  bamboo,  and  alligator  pear,  and  umbrella  trees,  and 
bread  fruit,  and  algabora,  and  tamarind,  and  all  the  South  Sea  exotics.  Rough  cheek  of 
pineapple  against  smooth  cheek  of  melon.  The  tropics  burning  incense  of  aromatics  to 
the  high  heavens.  # 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  79 

THE  world's  greatest  VOLCANO. 
These  islands  are  volcanic  resnlts.  The  volcanoes  are  giants  living  in  the  cellars  of 
the  earth  and  warming  themselves  by  .-^nbterraneons  fires,  and  when  they  come  out  to  play 
thev  toss  islands,  and  sometimes  in  their  sport  the\'  sprinkle  the  sea  with  the  Society 
Islands  and  then  the}-  toss  up  the  Navigator  Islands  and  then  the  Fiji  Islands  and  then  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  They  are  Titans,  and  when  they  play  quoits  they  pitch  islands.  When 
the  earth  finally  goes,  as  go  it  will,  while  it  will  be  a  very  serious  matter  to  us,  it  will  be 
only  the  work  of  volcanoes  which  in  their  sport  are  apt  to  be  careless  with  fire.  While 
volcanoes  are  assigned  to  the  destructive  agencies  we  see  here  what  they  can  do  as  archi- 
tects. See  here  what  they  have  builded.  All  up  and  down  these  islands  are  dead 
volcanoes.  Rocked  in  cradle  of  earthquake,  they  grew  up  to  an  active  life,  and  came  to 
their  last  breath,  and  the  mounds  under  which  they  sleep  are  decorated  with  tropical 
blooms.  But  the  greatest  living  volcano  of  all  the  earth  is  Hawaiian,  and  named  Kilauea. 
What  a  hissing,  bellowing,  tumbling,  soaring,  thundering  force  is  Kilauea !  Lake  of 
unquenchable  fire  :  Convolutions  and  paroxysms  of  flame  :  Elements  of  nature  in  torture  : 
Torridity  and  luridity  :  Congregation  of  dreads :  Molten  horrors :  Sulphurous  abysms : 
Swirling  mystery  of  all  time :  Infinite  turbulence  :  Chimney  of  perdition :  Wallowing 
terrors  :  Fifteen  acres  of  threat :  Glooms  insufferable  and  Dantesque  :  Caldron  stirred  by 
the  champion  witch  of  pandemonium  :  Camp-fire  of  the  armies  of  Diabolus  :  Wrath  of  the 
mountains  in  full  bloom:  Shimmering  incandescence  :  Pyrotechnics  of  the  planet :  Furnace- 
blast  of  the  ages — Kilauea  !  Once  upon  a  time  all  the  geysers,  and  boiling  springs, 
and  volcanoes  of  the  earth  held  a  convention  to  elect  a  king  ;  and  Etna  was  there,  and 
Hecla  was  there,  and  Stromboli  was  there,  and  Vesuvius  was  there,  and  Fusiyama  was 
there,  and  Mauna  Loa  was  there.  The  discussion  in  this  convention  of  volcanoes  was 
heated.  They  all  spouted  impassioned  sentiment.  vSome  were  candidates  for  the  throne 
and  crown  because  of  one  pre-eminence  and  others  for  other  superiorities.  But  when  it  was 
put  to  vote,  by  unanimous  acclamation  Kilauea  was  elected  to  be  king  of  volcanoes.  All 
the  active  forces  of  the  earth,  all  the  vapors,  all  the  earthquakes,  all  the  hills,  all  the  con- 
tinents voted  aye !  And  that  night  was  the  coronation.  The  throne  was  lava.  The 
sceptre  was  of  smoke.  The  coronet  was  of  fire.  And  all  the  sublimities  and  grandeurs  and 
solemnities  of  the  earth  kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the  burning  throne,  cried  out,  "  Long  live 
Kilauea  of  the  Havvaiians  !"  And  a  voice  from  heaven  added  mightiness  to  the  scene  as  it 
declared,  "  He  toucheth  the  hills  and  they  smoke." 


CHAPTER   IV. 


PRESIDENT  AND  QUEEN. 

GHE  chamberlain,  come  to  invite  us  to  the  residence  of  the  ex-Queen,  had 
suggested  eleven  o'clock  that  morning  as  the  best  hour  for  our  visit.  We 
approached  the  wide-open  doors  through  a  \ard  of  palm  trees  and  bananas  and 
cocoanut,  and  amid  flowers  that  dyed  the  yard  with  all  the  colors  that  a 
tropical  sun  can  paint.  We  were  ushered  into  the  royal  lady's  reception-room,  where, 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  distinguished  persons,  she  arose  to  meet  us  with  a  cordial  grasp 
of  the  hand.  The  pictures  of  her  hardly  convey  an  accurate  idea  of  her  dignit)'  of  bearing. 
She  has  all  the  ease  of  one  born  to  high  position.  Her  political  misfortunes  seem  in  no 
wise  to  have  saddened  her.  She  spoke  freely  of  the  brightness  of  life  to  any  one  disposed 
to  meet  all  obligations,  and  at  my  suggestion  that  we  found  in  life  chiefly  what  we  look  for, 

and  if  we  look  for  flowers  we  find 
flowers,  and  if  we  look  for  thorns 
we  find  thorns,  she  remarked,  "  I 
have  fomid  in  the  path  of  life 
chiefly  the  flowers.  I  do  not  see 
how  any  one  surrounded  bv  as 
many  blessings  as  man}'  of  us  pos- 
sess could  be  so  ungrateful  as  to 
complain."  She  said  it  was  some- 
thing to  be  remembered  thank- 
fully that  for  fifty  years  there  was 
no  revolution  in  the  islands.  She 
has  full  faith  that  the  provisional 
government  is  only  a  temporarv 
affair,  and  that  she  will  again  oc- 
cupy the  throne. 

She  asked  her  servant  to  show 
me,  as  something  I  had  not  seen 
before,  a  royal  adornment  made  up 
from  the  small  bii'd  with  a  large 
name,  the  Melithreptes  Pacifica. 
This  bird,  I  had  read,  had  under 
its  wing  a  single  feather  of  very 
exquisite  color.  The  Queen  cor- 
rected my  information  by  sa\ing 
that  it  was  not  a  single  feather,  but 
a  tuft  of  feathers,  from  under  the 
wing  of  the  bird  from  which  the 
ux-yuEEN  LiLuoKouLANi,  AS  SHE  RECKivKD  U.S.  adommeut    was    fashioned    into    a 

■Sol 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


Si 


chain  of  beauty  for  the  neck.  She  spoke  of  her  visit  to  New  York,  but  said  that  pro- 
longed illness  hindered  her  from  seeing  much  of  the  city.  She  talked  freely  and  intelli- 
gently on  many  subjects  pertaining  to  the  present  and  the  future. 

I  was  delighted  with  her  appearance  and  manner,  and  do  not  believe  one  word  of  the 
wretched  stuff  that  has  been  written  concerning  her  immoralities.  Defamation  is  so  easy, 
and  there  is  so  much  cvnicism  abroad  which  would  rather  believe  evil  than  eood,  that  it  is 
not  to  be  thought  strange  that  this  Queen,  like  all  the  other  rulers  of  the  earth,  has  been 
beaten  with  storms  of  obloquy  and  misrepresentation.  George  Washington  was  called  by 
Tom  Paine  a  lying  impostor.  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  styled  an  infidel  ;  and  since 
those  times  we  are  said  to  have  had  in  the 
United  States  presidency  a  blood-thirsty- 
man,  a  drunkard,  and  at  least  two  liber- 
tines ;  and  if  anybody  in  prominent  place 
and  effective  work  has  escaped,  "  let  him 
speak,  for  him  have  I  offended."  After 
an  exchange  of  autographs  on  that  day 
in  Honolulu,  we  parted. 

PRESIDENT    DOLE   GREET.S   HIS   GUE.STS. 

At  one  o'clock  Chief  Justice  Judd  came 
to  the  hotel  with  his  carriage  to  take  us  to 
the  mansion  of  Mr.  Dole,  the  coming  Presi- 
dent. It  was  onh-  a  minute  after  our  en- 
trance when  Mr.  Dole  and  his  accom- 
plished and  brilliant  lady  appeared  with  a 
cordiality  of  welcome  that  made  us  feel 
much  at  home.  IMr.  Dole  is  a  pronounced 
Christian  man,  deeply  interested  in  all  re- 
ligious affairs,  as  well  as  secular  ;  his  pri- 
vate life  beyond  criticism  ;  honored  by  both 
political  parties ;  talented,  urbane,  attrac- 
tive, strong,  and  fit  for  any  position  where 
conscientiousness  and  culture  and  down- 
right earnestness  are  requisites.  It  was  to 
me  a  matter  of  surprise  that  at  a  time  when 
politics  are  red-hot  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
and  Mr.  Dole  is  very  positive  in  his  opinions  on  all  subjects,  I  heard  not  one  word  of 
bitterness  spoken  against  him.  Hawaiian  and  foreigner  are  alike  his  eulogists.  When  I 
referred  to  the  tremendous  questions  he  and  his  associates  had  on  hand,  he  said  it  was 
remarkable  how  many  of  the  busy  men  of  tliese  islands  were  willing  to  give  so  much  of 
their  time,  free  of  all  charge,  to  the  business  of  the  new  government,  and  from  what  he 
believed  to  be  patriotic  and  Christian  motives.  Mr.  Dole  is  a  graduate  of  Williams 
College,  Massachusetts,  and  when  I  asked  him  if  his  opinion  of  President  Hopkins, 
of  that  college,  was  as  elevated  as  that  of  President  Garfield,  he  replied,  "  Yes  !  I  think, 
as  Garfield  did,  that  to  sit  on  one  end  of  a  log  with  President  Hopkins  on  the  other 
and  talk  with  him  on  literary  matters  would  be  something  like  a  liberal  education," 
6 


SANDFORD   P.   iC".':.    PRHSIDKNT   OF   THE 
REPUBLIC    OF   HAWAII. 


82 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


The  wife  of  the  coining  President  is  a  cliarni  of  loveliness,  and  is  an  artist  withal.  Her 
walls  are  partly  decorated  with  her  pencil.  And  thongh  nnder  her  protest,  as  though  the  room 
was  nnworthy  of  a  visit,  Chief  Justice  Judd  took  me  to  her  studio,  where  she  passes  much  of 
her  time  in  sketching  and  painting.  The  ride  I  took  afterward  with  the  coming  President 
and  Chief  Justice  Judd  allowed  me  still  other  opportunity  of  forming  an  elevated  opinion  of 
the  present  head  of  the  Hawaiian  Government.  The  cordiality  with  which  we  had  been 
received  by  the  present  ruler  and  the  former  Queen  interested  us  more  and  more  in  the 
present  condition  and  the  future  happiness  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

HE.IRINO    BOTH    SIDES    ON    HAWAII.\N    AFFAIR.S. 

Aware  of  the  different  ways  of  looking  at  things  and  of  putting  things,  I  resolved  to 
get  the  story  of  Hawaiian  affairs  from  opposite  sides.     We  have  always  taken  it  for  granted 

that  two  and  two 
make  four.  And 
yet  two  and  two 
may  be  so  placed  as 
to  make  twenty- 
two.  The  figure  9 
is  only  the  figure  6 
turned  upside  down. 
There  are  not  many 
things  like  the  figure 
8,  the  same  which- 
ever side  is  up. 
The  different  ac- 
counts I  here  pre- 
sent are  reports  from 
different  stand- 
points. 

I  had  opportu- 
nity of  earnest  and 
prolonged  conversa- 
tion with  a  royalist, 
educated,     truthful, 

NATIONAf.    PALACE,  HONOLDLU.  ^f    J^^gJ^   ^^^^^.^^   ^J^^^. 

acter,  born  in  these  islands,  and  of  great  observation  and  experience.  The  following 
conversation  took  place  between  us. 

Question  :   "  Do  you  think  the  ex-Oueen  a  good  woman  ?  " 

Answer :  "  I  have  seen  the  Queen  very  often.  I  have  been  one  of  her  advisers,  and 
my  wife  has  been  with  her  much  of  the  time  from  childhood,  and  has  seen  her  morning, 
noon  and  night,  and  under  all  circumstances,  and  neither  of  us  has  ever  witnessed 
anything  compromising  in  her  character.  She  has  made  mistakes,  as  all  make  them,  but 
she  is  fully  up  to  the  moral  standard  of  the  world's  rulers.  She  is  the  impersonation  of 
kindness,  and  neither  m\-  wife  nor  myself,  nor  any  one  else  has  ever  heard  her  say  a  word 
against  any  one.  In  that  excellence  she  is  pre-eminent.  In  proof  of  her  good  character 
I  have  to  state  the  fact  that  there  is  not  a  household  in  Honolulu  that  did  not  feel  honored 
by  her  presence.     If  she  had  been  such  a  corrupt  character  as  some  correspondents  have 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  83 

represented  her,  I  do  not  think  that  the  best  men  and  women  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
wonld  have  songht  her  for  guest  and  associate." 

Qius/ioit :  "  Do  vou  think  siie  has  been  unjustly  treated?" 

Answer:  "I  do.  She  has  been  most  infamously  treated.  While  our  island  was  at 
peace,  and  with  no  excuse  for  interference,  the  United  vStates  troops  were  landed.  A  group 
of  men  backed  up  by  the  United  States  Minister  and  troops  formed  a  cabinet  and  chose  a 
President,  and  sent  a  committee  to  the  palace  and  told  the  Queen  to  leave  the  place.  It  was 
another  case  of  Naboth's  vineyard.  The  simple  fact  is  that  there  were  men  who  wanted  the 
palace  and  the  offices  and  the  salaries.  From  affluent  position  she  was  reduced  in  estate 
until  she  had  to  mortgage  the  little  left  her  to  pay  commissioners  to  go  to  Washington  and 
present  her  side  of  the  case.  As  I  said,  she  made  mistakes,  but  she  was  willing  to  correct 
them,  and  in  a  public  manifesto  declared  she  was  willing  to  retrace  her  steps  in  the  matter 
of  the  '  New  Constitution.'  She  had  as  much  right  to  her  throne  as  any  ruler  on  earth  has 
a  right  to  a  throne ;  but  by  sharp  practice  when  she  was  unsuspecting,  the  United  States 
troops  drove  her  from  the  palace,  took  possession  of  the  armament,  and  inaugurated  a  new 
government." 

THE    ROYALIST   VIEW. 

Question  :  "  If  the  choice  o.  royalt}-  or  annexation  were  put  to  the  vote  of  the  people, 
what  do  you  think  would  be  the  decision  ?  " 

Ansiver :  "The  Queen's  restoration  b>-  a  majority  of  at  least  ten  to  one.  We  wdio  are 
royalists  are  without  exception  in  favor  of  leaving  these  matters  to  a  ballot-box.  In  the 
United  States  the  majority  govern^  and  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
ought  to  have  the  same  privilege  of  governing." 

Question  :   "  Are  the  Hawaiians  property -holders  or  nomads  ?  " 

Anszcer:  "  They  are  property-holders.  They  have  their  homes.  They  have  a  practical 
interest  in  public  affairs.  Moreover  they  are  for  the  most  part  intelligent.  You  can  hardly 
find  a  Hawaiian  born  .since  1840  who  cannot  read  and  write." 

Question:  "What  do  you  think  is  the  most  provoking  item  in  the  condition  of  your 
country  ?  " 

Answer:  "It  is  that  a  professed  friendh-  power  has  robbed  us  of  our  government. 
All  the  nations  of  the  earth  consider  that  your  nation  has  done  us  a  wrong." 

Question :  "  Taking  conditions  as  they  now  are  what  do  30U  think  had  better  be  done, 
or  is  that  a  hemispheric  conundrum  ?  " 

Answer  :  "  It  is  a  hemispheric  conundrum.  Our  Queen  is  dethroned,  and  her  palace  and 
her  military  forces  are  in  the  possession  of  her  enemies.  While  I  cannot  see  any  way  in 
which  the  wrong  can  be  righted,  she  has  such  faith  in  the  final  triumph  of  justice  that  she 
expects  to  resume  her  throne.  Her  estate  as  well  as  her  crown  taken  from  her,  she  deserves 
the  sympathy  of  the  whole  world.  I  believe  in  republics  for  some  lands,  and  monarchies 
for  others.  One  style  of  government  will  not  do  for  all  styles  of  people.  A  republic  is  best 
for  the  United  States,  a  monarchy  for  the  Hawaiian  Islands." 

Thus  ended  my  conversation  with  the  royalist. 

THE    REPUBLICAN   SIDE   OF   THE   CASE. 

But  I  also  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  the  other  side  of  this  question  from  a 
spirited,  patriotic  and  honest  annexationist,  and  I  asked  much  the  same  questions  that  I  had 
asked  the  rovalist. 


\ 


84 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


The  following  conversation  between  the  annexationist  and  myself  took  place : 

Question :  "  Do  you  think  the  Queen  is  fit  to  reign  ?  " 

Aiiszt'cr :  "No!  By  her  signing  the  Opium  License  and  the  bill  for  the  Louisiana 
Lottery,  and  by  other  acts,  she  has  proved  herself  unfit  to  govern." 

Question:  "  Do  you  think  that  the  present  controvers\-  would  be  relieved,  if  the  ques- 
tion in  dispute  were  left  to  the  votes  of  all  the  people  on  the  island?" 

A)isu<cr :  "No!  The  Chinese,  the  Japanese  and  the  Portuguese  would  join  with  the 
natives  and  vote  down  the  best  interests  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands." 

Question  :  "  What  do  you  think  of  the  present  attitude  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment with  respect  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  ?  " 

Ansiccr :  "Most  unfortunate.  We  are  waiting  for  a  change  of  administration  at 
Washington.     Your  President  has  unwiselv  handled  our  affairs.     We  want  au  administra- 


MAix  STREET,  HONorrrr. 

tion  at  Washington  whicli  will  favor  an  annexation,  and  \our  next  Presidential  election 
may  settle  our  island  affairs,  and  settle  them  in  the  right  way." 

Question:  "What  is  the  present  feeling  between  royalists  and  those  in  favor  of  the 
provisional  government?" 

Ansivcr :  "Very  bitter  and  becoming  more  and  more  dangerous,  and  great  prudence 
and  wisdom  will  have  to  be  employed  or  there  will  be  blood  shed." 

Thus  ended  my  conversation  with  the  annexationist. 

As  I  said  in  a  previous  letter,  without  taking  the  side  either  of  rowalist  or  annexa- 
tionist, the  Hawaiian  Islands  will  yet  be  a  republic  by  itself      What  an  amazing  thing  that 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


85 


after  all  the  trouble  the  United  States  Government  has  had  with  the  Chinese  population 
now  within  our  borders,  trying  this  and  that  legislation  to  suit  their  case,  any  American 
statesman  should  propose,  by  the  annexation  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to  add  to  our  popu- 
lation the  22,000  Chinese  and  the  12,000  Japanese  now  living  in  those  islands.  If  we  want 
this  addition  of  34,000  Chinese  and  Japanese,  had  we  not  better  import  them  fresh  from 
China  ai:  '   T    :  ■    ::  ^ 


HAWAIIAN    I'.IKI.S. 

From  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  in  this  my  journey  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  will  be  a  dire  day  when  the  American  government  hopelessly  mixes  itself  up  with 
Hawaiian  affairs.  It  would  be  disaster  to  them,  and  perplexity  and  useless  expense  to  our- 
selves. "  Hands  off,"  and  "  Mind  your  own  business "  are,  in  this  case,  sentiments  that 
had  better  be  observed  by  English,  German  and  American  governments. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ISLAND   OF   LEPERS. 

OHE  most  of  the  world's  heroes  and  heroines  die  unrecognized.  They  will  have 
to  wait  until  the  roll  is  called  on  the  other  side  of  the  Dead  Sea.  I  have  seen 
no  celebration  of  the  courage  and  fidelity  of  Rev.  S.  Waiwaiole,  who  died  two 
years  ago  in  the  leper  settlement  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  nor  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Pahio,  who,  himself  struck  with  leprosy,  goes  right  on  with  his  evangelical  labors,  except 
when  especial  fever  of  his  disease  prostrates  him,  and  will  continue  his  work  of  love  until 
he  has  neither  foot  to  walk  nor  tongue  to  speak  because  of  the  dreadful  disintegration. 
But  once  in  a  while  there  are  circumstances  which  thrill  the  world  with  some  story  like 
that  of  the  brilliant  Belgian  Catholic  priest,  Joseph  Damien,  who,  after  a  week's  considera- 
tion of  whether  he  had  better  do  so,  accepted  the  appointment  as  missionary  to  Molokai, 
the  Isle  of  Lepers ;  for  sixteen  years  administering  to  the  leprous  and  then  d\ing  of  the 
leprosy.  When  told  by  his  physician  that  he  had  the  fell  taint  upon  him  he  showed  no 
alarm  or  even  agitation,  but  said,  "  As  I  expected.  I  am  willing  to  die  for  those  I  came  to 
save."  The  King  knighted  him  and  a  memorial  slab  designates  his  resting-place,  but 
Protestantism  has  joined  Catholicism  in  the  beatification  of  this  self-sacrificing  ecclesiastic. 

A    TRIBUTE    TO    DAMIEN. 

That  moral  hero  completely  transformed  the  Isle  of  Lepers.  It  was,  before  his  work 
begun,  a  pen  of  abominations.  No  law,  no  decencv,  all  the  tigers  of  passion  were  let 
loose.  Drunkenness  and  blasphemv  and  libertinism  and  cruelt\'  dominated.  The  moral 
disease  eclipsed  the  physical.  But  Damien  dawned  upon  the  darkness.  He  helped  them 
build  cottages.  He  medicated  their  physical  distresses.  The  plague  which  he  could  not 
arrest  he  alleviated.  He  settled  the  controversies  of  the  people.  He  prepared  the  dead  for 
burial  and  digged  for  them  Christian  graves,  and  pronounced  upon  them  a  benediction. 
He  launched  a  Christian  civilization  upon  the  wretchedness.  He  gave  them  the  gospel  of 
good  cheer.  Pie  told  the  poor  victims  concerning  the  Land  of  Eternal  Health,  where  "  the 
inhabitant  never  says  I  am  sick,"  and  the  swollen  faces  took  on  the  look  of  hope,  and  the 
glassy  eyes  saw  coming  relief,  and  the  footless,  and  the  limbless,  and  the  fingerless  looked 
forward  to  a  place  where  they  might  walk  with  the  King  robed  in  white,  and  "  everlasting 
songs  upon  their  heads." 

Good  and  Christlike  Joseph  Damien  !  Let  all  religions  honor  his  memory.  Let  poetry 
and  canvas  and  sculpture  tell  the  stor^•  of  this  man  who  lived  and  died  for  others,  and  from 
century  to  century  keep  him  in  bright  remembrance  long  after  the  last  leper  of  all  the  earth 
shall  have  felt  through  all  his  recovering  and  revitalized  nature,  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God  saying  :  "  I  will  !     Be  thou  clean." 

THE    REGIME    AT    MOLOKAI. 

The  eternal  pathos  of  Molokai  has  attracted  the  attention  of  all  nations,  because  it  is  a 
leper  colony.  It  is  a  small  island,  but  it  contains  a  continent  of  woe.  It  was  established  in 
mercy.     Leprosy  was  so  rapidly  advancing  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  that  the  entire  population 

(86) 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


87 


was  imperiled.  To  control  and  extirpate  the  ghastly  evil  it  was  necessary  to  pnt  it  by 
itself  on  an  island  not  easily  accessible.  But  those  banished  there  are  made  as  comfortable 
as  possible.  In  one  year  this  leper  settlement  cost  the  Hawaiian  government  $55,000. 
Every  week  eacii  patient  is  allowed  four  pounds  of  salmon,  nine  pounds  of  rice,  one  pound 
of  sugar,  or  if  preferred  from  five  to  six  pounds  of  beef  and  twenty-one  pounds  of  paiai, 
which  is  a  near  approach  to  bread.  Leprosy  reigns  there.  The  victims  have  bands  of 
music,  all  the  players  lepers ;  they  have  churches,  all  the  worshipers  lepers  ;  they  have 
carriages,  all  the  drivers  and  occupants  lepers ;  they  have  hospitals,  all  the  nurses  and 
patients  lepers  ;  they  have  the  drama,  and  all  the  actors  lepers ;  they  have  schools,  all  the 


PRINCICSS    NAl'ILDNIUS     RESIDENCE    IN    HONOLUI.I'. 


teachers  and  scholars  lepers  ;  marriages  are  performed  and  the  contracting  parties  lepers. 
Children  are  born  there  and  they  are  mostly  lepers.  Everything  that  pustule  and  scarifica- 
tion and  inflammation  and  gangrene  and  disfiguration  can  do  is  done  here.  Science,  which 
has  successfully  fought  back  most  of  the  world's  disorders,  has  here  closed  its  pharmacy, 
put  back  into  its  case  its  surgical  instruments  and  come  down  to  the  government  boat  and 
retreated  from  this  island  of  death.  Thank  God  this  dominion  of  death  is  being  broken 
and  he  will  have  to  dismount  this  sepulchral  throne.  Segregation  of  the  victims  will 
complete  the  overthrow  of  the  foul  plague,  and  in  these  islands  a  leper  will  be  as  rare  as  iu 
America,  where  most  of  the  people  never  saw  a  leper. 


88 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


CHEERFUL,  THOUGH    DOOMED. 

What  most  strikes  a  visitor  at  Molokai  is  the  placidity  and  cheerfulness  of  the  victim- 
ized. One  would  think  they  could  never  smile,  never  sing-,  never  get  out  from  under  a 
sense  of  despair.  But  whatsoever  agonies  may  fill  the  hearts  of  these  lepers,  they  appear  to 
the  beholder  as  in  a  resignation  that  amounts  to  good  cheer.  They  seem  among  the 
happiest  people  on  earth.  Many  of  them  on  horseback,  come  galloping  down  tlie  road. 
Songs  roll  over  the  fated  village  by  day  and  night.  Human  nature  adjusts  itself  to  circum- 
stances. We  have  often  seen  people  who  through  pulmonary  or  Bright's  disease  were 
certain  of  early  demise  and  >et  with  a  mirth  bubbling  and  resonant.     The  fact  is  we  must 


DOWAGER    XAPILONIUS,    AT   KING   KALAKANU'S   COFFIN,   HONOLrLU. 

all  die,  and  yet  we  manage  to  keep  cheerful,  and  why  not  those  struck  b}'  leprous  fatality 
have  sunshine  in  their  countenance  and  talk. 

The  mercy  of  the  Hawaiians  has  made  this  colony  of  doomed  inliabitants  more 
tolerable  than  in  most  lands.  I  have  seen  in  the  suburbs  of  Jerusalem  and  Damascus 
scores  of  those  cast  out  for  this  disease  and  inhabiting  caverns  and  tombs.  Beaten  of  the 
elements,  living  on  the  coin  which  passers-by  may  fling  to  them,  while  day  by  day  they 
are  rotting  alive.  Let  us  thank  God  that  those  smitten  with  incurable  sores,  in  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  have  homes,  and  schools,  and  churches,  and  food,  and  nurses,  and  alleviations, 
and  parterres  of  sweetest  flowei's  under  arches  of  bluest  skies. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


89 


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1^^^ 

THE   STORY   OF    WILLIAM    RAGSDALE,    LEPER. 

No  respecter  of  persons  is  this  ph>sical  calamity.  William  Ragsdale,  a  popular 
lawyer,  was  sent  there.  He  was  eloquent  both  in  Hawaiian  and  English,  and  could  make 
his  audience  weep  and  laugh  and  shiver  and  resolve.  He  had  the  satire  of  a  Junius  and 
the  impassioned  abandon  of  an  O'Connell.  No  one  suspected  he  was  a  le^Der  before  the  day 
when  he  sent  a  letter  to  the  authorities  surrendering  himself,  and  saying  that  on  the  morrow 
he  would  go  aboard  the 
steamer  for  Molokai.  He 
spent  the  morning  of  the 
day  of  his  departure  in  riding 
around  to  say  good-bye  to 
his  friends,  and  just  before 
the  hour  of  sailing  came 
down  to  the  boat,  his  neck 
adorned  with  gardenia,  and 
turned  around  and  made  a 
farewell  address,  closing 
with  the  words  :  "  Aloka  ! 
May  God  bless  you,  my 
brothers ! " 

Hundreds  of  the  people 
and  a  glee  club  accompanied 
him  to  the  boat,  and  they 
rent  the  air  with  lamenta- 
tions as  the  boat  swung  off 
from  its  moorings.  He 
took  a  Bible  and  some  law 
books  with  him  into  his 
dreadful  exile,  and  the 
prayers  of  churches  were 
offered  that  he  might  ha\f 
courage  and  peace  in  tin- 
remaining  days  of  his  eartli- 
I5'  tarrying.  Queen  Emma's 
cousin,  Honorable  Mr.  Kaco, 
was  also  sent  to  Molokai ; 
and  there  was  no  power  in 
his  royal  connection  to  keep 
him   outside  of  that   island.  statt-r  of  kameuameha  r.,  hon-ot.ui.ti. 

Mrs.  Napela,  of  high  social  circle,  had  her  cottage  of  enforced  exile  on  that  island  of 
sepulchres.  A  legislator  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  there  closing  his  life.  He  was 
probably  a  good  legislator  in  the  da}-s  of  his  health,  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  what  a 
good  thing  it  would  be  if  all  the  leprous  legislators  of  the  earth  could  be  put  on  som' 
island  by  themselves.  Such  a  banishment  would  be  a  mighty  thinning  out  at  Albany 
Harrisburg  and  Washington,  legislatures  State  and  national.  The  United  States  Gov- 
ernment could  afford  to  provide  such  a  ]\Iolokai,  and  the  moral  lepers  sent  there  could 
have  their  legislature  and  congress  and  board  of  aldermen  and   army  and    navy  all  of 


KjMS?' 


4^' 


M 


sn';i]Ni]ii==~ 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


9^ 


the  same  blotch.  But  while  the  Hawaiian  legislator  could  be  found  out  and  sent  to 
the  so-called  "  Isle  of  Precipices,"  the  moral  leper  is  not  so  easily  designated,  because  he 
has  the  blotch  not  so  much  on  his  fore'  .1  as  on  his  heart.  What  every  State  and  nation 
now  needs  is  a  Molokai,  or  Isle  of  Lepers. 

LEPROSY    DIAGNOSED. 

Conversation  about  leprosy  with  a  former  member  of  the  Board  of  Health  for  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  revealed  to  me  the  following  facts  : 

Qncslion :  "In  what  part  of  the  system  does  leprosy  begin  its  work?" 

Ansccer :  "  It  attacks  the  nerve-centres." 

Question  :  "  I  thought  it  was  a  disease  of  the  blood  ?  " 

Ansu'cr :  "  No.  It  begins  with  the  nerves,  and  just  as  the  girdling  of  the  trunk  of  a 
tiee  first  shows  its  withering  results   in   the   tip  end  of  the   long  branch  of  the   tree,  so 


CAPTAIN   COOK'S   MONUMENT,  HAWAII. 

leprosy  is  apt  to  first  show  itself  in  the  paralysis  or  doubling  up  of  the  little  finger,  or  in 
the  toe,  or  in  the  lobe  of  the  ear.  Sometimes  there  appears  upon  the  body  a  shining 
surface,  and  it  is  unimpressible.  Prick  it  with  a  pin,  and  there  is  no  sting.  All  the  rest 
of  the  patient's  body  may  be  in  perspiration,  but  that  spot  remains  dry.  Sometimes  all  the 
signs  of  physical  disorder  disappear,  and  the  disease  seems  gone.  Then  there  will  come  a 
leprous  fever,  and  that  will  throw  out  a  blush  or  efflorescence  that  more  emphatically 
announces  the  progress  of  the  disease.     Then  all  signs  of  skin  disturbance  disappear,  but 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  93 

after  the  following  leprous  fever  the  case  is  worse  than  before.  .So  each  retreat  of  the 
disease  is  followed  by  a  more  decided  advance." 

Qitcslion  :   "  Is  it  painful  ?  " 

Anszccr:  "No.  That  is  one  of  the  mercies.  From  the  first  as.sault  of  the  plague  to 
the  hour  of  death  there  is  an  absence  of  physical  suffering." 

Qiu's/ioii :  "  But  is  there  no  mental  depression?" 

Anszcrr:  "Oh,  yes.  At  the  first  acquaintance  of  the  fact  that  the  disea.se  is  on  him, 
a  horrid  gloom  settles  upon  the  patient.  But  after  a  while  a  slight  hope  of  recover\-  is 
born,  and  the  incipient  leper  tries  all  forms  of  cure,  and  no  form  is  so  absurd  that  it  will 
not  recommend  itself  as  worthy  of  experiment.  And  then  all  the  time  the  patient  thinks 
it  may  be  something  besides  leprosy." 

Question  :  "  When  a  victim  of  the  disease  is  first  charged  with  having  the  plague,  I 
should  think  he  would  resent  it." 

Answer :  "  Yes,  and  the  English  law  makes  it  a  libelous  case  for  the  courts,  if  a  man  is 
unjustly  charged  with  being  a  leper.  Boards  of  Health  have  to  be  very  careful  in  the  work 
of  segregation." 

Question  :   "  Are  there  any  cases  of  cure  ?  " 

Ansiver :  "The  only  cases  I  recall  are  those  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  Naaman,  the 
Svrian  hero,  and  the  ten  cases  whom  Christ  cured,  nine  of  them  too  mean  to  acknowledge 
the  divine  medicament." 

Question :  "What  in  ordinary  cases  is  the  velocity  of  the  disease,  and  how  long  before 
it  completes  its  work  ?  " 

Anszver :  "  Well,  I  have  known  one  case  last  sixteen  years.  I  think  the  usual  durance 
is  fi\'e  or  six  years." 

Question:  "Has  the  leprosy  different  modes  in  demonstrating  itself?" 

Ansiver:  "  It  has.  The  tuberculous  and  the  anesthetic.  The  former  is  more  repulsive, 
it  swells  and  bloats  and  distorts  the  face.  The  last  sign  of  humanity  is  blotted  from  the  counte- 
nance. There  are  cases  of  this  kind  called  '  leonine,'  for  the  reason  that  the  face  is  so  widened 
and  enlarged  and  made  severe  that  the  countenance  looks  like  a  lion.  The  anesthetic 
form  is  a  withering,  a  thinning  out,  a  wasting  away,  a  depletion,  a  skeletonizing  process." 

Question  :  "  Is  it  contagious  ?  " 

Answer:  "There  are  different  opinions  about  that.  I  have  seen  in  married  life  the 
husband  or  wife  a  leper  for  years,  and  the  partner  in  life  always  in  good'  health.  I  have 
known  a  leprous  parent  to  have  a  healthy  child.  I  was  talking  on  this  subject  with  an 
eminent  physician  who  said  to  me,  '  Do  you  see  those  two  children  playing  together  ?  The 
one  is  a  leper  and  the  other  my  own  child,  and  I  have  no  fear  about  contamination.'  " 

Question  :  "  How  many  patients  are  there  in  Molokai  at  the  present  time  ?  " 

Anszcer:   "  x\bout  one  thousand." 

Here  ended  my  conversation  with  the  former  member  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  Up  to  date  the  woe  goes  on.  Only  two  weeks  ago,  a  ship  took  twenty- 
five  more  lepers  to  Molokai.  The  scene  of  parting  is  said  to  be  so  heart-rending  that  but 
few  people  go  to  the  wharf  to  witness  it.  The  wailing  and  the  howling  at  the  parting  of 
families,  as  the  filial,  and  fraternal,  and  paternal,  and  maternal  bonds  are  broken,  is  something 
that  haunts  the  memory.  Not  long  ago  a  young  man,  sentenced  to  the  leper  island,  declared 
he  would  not  be  taken  alive.  He  shot  three  of  those  who  were  attempting  to  segregate 
him,  and  then  hid  in  a  hut  until  a  cannon  on  a  neighboring  hill  bombarded  the  hut  into  a 
wreck.     Then  a  relative  went  td  the  hut  and  found  the  young  man  dead. 


94 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


I 


But  do  not  let  lis  give  up  discouraged.  Leprosy  as  well  as  cancer  and  all  the  other 
now  unconquered  ailments  will  yet  be  cured.  I  do  not  know  where  the  cradle  now  holding 
the  coming  doctor  is  being  rocked,  whether  at  Molokai,  or  in  Honolulu,  or  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames,  or  the  Rhine,  or  the  Tiber,  or  the  Ural,  or  the  Hudson,  or  the  Savannah.  Nor 
do  I  know  from  what  college  he  will  unroll  his  diploma,  nor  in  what  laboratory  he  will 
make  his  experiments,  nor  in  what  decade  he  will  give  proclamation  of  the  world's 
emancipation  from  diseases  as  yet  incurable,  but  he  will  go  through  the  same  persecutions 
that  Doctor  Jenner  did  because  of  his  discovery  of  a  way  to  halt  small-pox,  and  as  Doctor 
Keeley  has  endured  because  of  his  almost  supernatural  cure  of  alcoholism,  and  the  new 


A    NATIVK    FKAST,   HAWAII. 

discoverer  will  run  the  gauntlet  of  caricature,  and  expulsion  from  medical  societies,  and  will, 
like  the  most  illustrious  Being  of  all  ages,  become  the  target  for  expectoration,  but  the 
discoverer  will  give  leprosv  the  command  "  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther,"  and  that 
disease  will  wriggle  and  crawl  and  slink  out  of  the  world,  and  after  the  medical  emancipator 
is  dead,  the  nations  will  build  a  monument  so  high  to  his  memory,  that  the  granite  shaft 
will  dispute  with  the  skies  the  right  of  possession,  and  in  the  epitaph  thereon  the  clicking 
chisel  will  tv}'  to  atone  for  the  slanderous  tongue,  and  the  world  that  held  back  from  the 
discoverer  the  bread  of  honest  praise  will  give  him  a  stone  of  post-mortem  commemoration. 
Forward  the  whole  column  of  surgeons  and  physicians  for  the  conquest  of  leprosy  and 
cancer. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BATTLE  AND  SHIPWRECK. 

HUNDRED  and  sixty  dead  men  in  the  angry  waters  ;  one  ship  snnk  out  of  sight 
so  that  not  so  much  as  a  plank  or  rope  has  since  appeared  ;  of  our  three  great 
American  warships  lying  in  the  harbor,  the  "Leipsic"  beached,  the  "Trenton  " 
and  "  Vandalia"  demolished  ;  of  the  three  great  German  men-of-war,  the  "  Eber  " 
and  "Olga"  gone  completely  under  ;  the  "Adler"  rolled  over  on  its  side  and  cracked  apart  amid- 
ships; out  of  all  the  vessels  in  harbor  only  one  .saved,  and  that  because  it  had  steam  up  and 
could  sail  out  into  the  sea ;  three  days  of  wreckage  and  fright  and  horror  which  shook  the 
island,  and  by  report  of  next  steamer  transfixed  all  nations  ;  all  this  a  brief  putting  of  what 
an  Antipodean  hurricane  did  for  this  harbor  in  March,  1889.  While  all  up  and  down  the 
beach  of  this  island  are  pieces  of  the  wreckage  of  that  unparalleled  tempest  only  one 
skeleton  of  the  ship  remains,  the  "Adler,"  sufficiently  distinct  to  represent  that  scene  of 
cyclonic  infernization.  It  is  rather  unfortunate  that  Samoa  in  the  popular  mind  of  all 
nations  stands  as  a  synonym  of  shipwreck,  for  the  place  is  as  fine  a  specimen  of  foliage  and 
fruitage  as  the  world  holds.  Indeed,  its  harbor  is  the  sea  captain's  anxiety.  For  though  a 
wide  harbor  it  has  only  a  small  entrance,  and  rocks  in  all  directions  toss  the  white  foam. 
The  captain  told  us  that  we  need  not  think  we  were  left  if  we  saw  him  sailing  out  to  sea, 
for  he  would  do  so  if  a  squall  came  up,  but  he  would  return  and  take  us. 

After  more  than  seven  da>s  of  ocean  rolling,  without  sight  of  ship  or  land,  the  Samoan 
Islands  greet  you  like  a  beatific  vision.  As  we  came  on  deck  this  morning  the  waters 
were  covered  with  small  boats  of  natives  bringing  specimens  of  coral  and  all  manner  ot 
flowers  and  fruits,  ready  to  sell  these  and  transport  to  shore  all  the  passengers  who  chose  to 
go.  A  boat  belonging  to  the  German  Legation  with  four  stout  oarsmen,  took  us  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  beach.  From  thence  we  went  to  King  Malietoa's  residence.  But 
it  is  a  time  of  war.  The  King  had  fled  to  the  forest.  A  few  nights  before  he  was  thought 
to  be  at  a  village  house,  and  it  was  surrounded  and  shot  into,  and  the  King  would  have 
been  slain  if  he  had  been  there.  The  whole  island  is  in  turmoil.  We  were  shown  the 
King's  rooms  and  his  pictures  and  bric-a-brac.  The  walls  suggested  fondness  for  German  and 
English  royalty,  but  I  found  not  a  face  of  any  American  President  or  general.  We  saw  the 
Queen  and  at  the  invitation  of  the  warriors  went  into  the  guard's  tent.  About  fifteen 
dusky  soldiers,  each  reclining  on  a  pillow  of  round  wood  upheld  by  two  small  supports.  A 
more  uncomfortable  jdIIIow  it  would  seem  to  me  than  that  in  Bethel,  from  the  foot  of 
which  Jacob  saw  the  angelics. 

Each  of  the  warriors  had  a  gun  within  reach.  At  their  invitation  we  sat  down  on  a 
mat  beside  those  who  were  sitting,  and  in  scant  vocabular}'  talked  over  the  Samoan  troubles. 
We  saw  one  soldier  who  had  been  shot  in  the  foot,  and  he  was  limping  along  leaning  on  an 
assistant.  Four  men  were  killed  last  night  in  a  skirmish  and  another  skinnish  is  to  take 
place  to-night.  There  are  natives  wdio  do  not  want  to  pay  their  taxes  and  their  various 
grievances  have  been  summed  up,  and  a  young  warrior  wants  to  get  the  throne  and  intro- 
duce the  millennium.  A  long-continued  struggle  is  opening.  Meanwhile  a  German  and 
English  man-of-war  is  in  the  harbor  and  an  American  man-of-war  is  expected  soon.     W'hat 

(95) 


96 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


will  !)c  the  result  no  one  can  prophesy.  But  this  is  certain,  this  island  and  all  the  group  of 
islands  are  suffering  from  foreign  interference.  It  is  a  common  saying  among  the  natives 
that  first  comes  tlie  missionary,  then  comes  the  merchant,  then  comes  the  consul,  then 
comes  the  man-of-war,  then  oh,  my  ! 

Why  should  three  great  nations  like  the  English,  German  and  American  stoop  to  such 
small  business  as  to  be  watching  with  anxious  and  expensive  vigilance  these  islands,  for 
fear  that  this  or  that  foreign  government  should  get  a  little  advantage?  Better  call  home 
your  warships  and  leave  all  to  the  missionaries.  They  will  do  more  for  the  civilization  of 
Samoa,  than  all  the  guns  that  ever  spoke  from  the  sides  of  the  world's  navies.  The  captain 
of  our  steamer,  in  an  interesting  address  a  few  evenings  ago  concerning  the  islands  of  the 

Pacific,  declared  that  the  only  move- 
ment toward  civilization  that  amounted 
to  anything  in  these  islands  had  been 
made  by  the  church.  Gospel,  not  gun- 
powder. Life,  not  death.  Bibles,  not 
bullets. 

The  only  movement  that  at  this 
time  has  full  swing  in  Samoa  is  "  trade 
gin."  That  maddens  and  embrutes  and 
has  given  to  Samoa  the  unsavory  and 
unjust  title  of  the  "  Hell  of  the  Pacific." 
The  foreign  gin  is  helped  in  its  work  by 
a  domestic  drink  called  "kava."  It  is 
prepared  in  the  following  delicious  way. 
There  is  a  plant  called  Piper  Methisti- 
cum,  from  the  root  of  which  the  kava 
is  made.  A  young  Samoan  woman 
moved  to  one  of  the  Fiji  Islands,  but 
got  tired  and  resolved  to  return  to  her 
native  islands.  Before  starting  home- 
wards she  saw  a  rat,  which  seemed  weak 
and  thin,  eat  the  root  of  this  plant,  when 
the  rat  soon  after  became  strong  and 
vigorous,  and  she  concluded  that  the 
best  thing  she  could  do  for  her  native 
land  was  to  take  this  root  to  her  people, 
that  it  might  make  them  strong  and 
vigorous  too.  So  it  was  transplanted.  As  the  root  of  it  made  the  rat  strong  and  vigor- 
ous, why  not  the  same  result  be  produced  in  the  human  race?  So  she  cultivated  in  Samoa 
the  Piper  Methisticum,  from  which  the  kava  is  made.  Girls,  and  old  men  wlio  have 
nothing  else  to  do,  prepare  this  kava  by  the  following  process :  They  take  the  root  and 
chew  it  until  the  juice  fills  their  mouth,  then  they  discharge  it  from  the  month  into  a  bowl, 
more  root  is  put  into  the  mouth  and  the  liquid  disposed  of  in  the  .same  way.  It  has  become 
a  popular  drink.  It  is  ordered  on  all  occasions  ;  at  the  opening  and  closing  of  all  socialities, 
before  and  after  all  styles  of  business,  it  is  kava  here  and  kava  there  and  kava  everj'where. 
And  it  is  cleaner  than  most  of  the  drinks  of  other  countries  and  has  in  it  no  logwood,  strych- 
nine or  nux  vomica,  but  ^Jure  and  simple  expectoration.     I  consider  it  as  an  improvement 


AN   ASPIRANT   TO    THE    THRONE   OF   SAMOA. 


I 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  97 

on  most  strong  drinks.  It  is  said  to  be  a  most  delicions  drink.  Almost  all  visitors  try 
this  kava  and  see  what  it  tastes  like  and  what  are  its  effects,  but  as  I  have  great  faith  in 
the  testimony  of  others,  I  did  not  taste  it,  believing  all  they  said  about  the  pungent  and 
grateful  flavor  of  this  beverage  of  refined  and  delectated  spit.  The  kava  not  only  appeals 
to  the  taste,  but  it  is  said  to  beautify  the  cup  or  bowl  from  which  it  is  quaffed.  The  bowl 
is  not  washed,  but  retains  the  settlings  of  this  beverage,  which  harden  and  come  to  look 
like  exquisite  enameling,  which  submits  to  a  high  polish.  Not  only  is  the  cup  enameled, 
but  the  stomach  of  the  one  who  takes  it,  becomes  also  an  enameling  so  elaborate  that  I  am 
informed  that  one  who  was  in  such  condition,  by  sneezing  violently,  cracked  the  enamel 
and  died.  Instead  of  the  burning  out  of  the  vitals  by  the  brandy  and  whiskey  and  wines 
would  it  not  be  more  sesthetic  to  carry  around  a  whole  art  gallery  of  enameled  insides  ? 

Tell  all  the  ^lethodists  Malietoa  is  a  Wesleyan  and  a  consistent  follower  of  the  three 
worthies  of  Epworth,  Susannah,  Charles  and  John.  Though  his  every  drop  of  inherited 
blood  is  warlike,  this  king  is  a  man  of  peace.  One  of  his  ancestors  fought  back  an  enemy 
from  Samoa,  and  did  it  so  well  that  the  defeated  troops,  as  they  got  back  into  their  boats, 
cheered  the  Samoan  king,  shouting,  "Well  done,  fighting  cock."  But  the  present  king 
might  better  be  symbolized  by  a  dove  rather  than  a  chanticleer.  As  in  America  we  never 
had  but  one  man  who  declined  being  President  of  the  United  States  when  he  knew  that 
he  could  get  the  office,  so  Malietoa  is  the  only  man  that  I  know  of  who  declined  to  be 
king,  when  the  honor  fell  to  him.  Again  and  again  he  preferred  another  for  the  throne, 
and  accepted  royalty  only  when  circumstances  compelled  him  to  do  so.  There  have  been 
deeds  of  blood  since  he  took  the  sceptre,  but  war  is  barbarism  whether  under  Samoan,  or 
American,  or  English  flag.  Nearly  all  the  great  generals  of  our  American  wars  have  been 
good  members  of  Presbyterian,  or  Episcopalian,  or  Methodist,  or  Baptist,  or  Congregational, 
or  Catholic  churches. 

Do  not  therefore  sneer  when  I  write  that  Malietoa  is  a  Wesleyan.  The  flag  that  floats 
o\-er  his  house  is  a  one-starred  flag  contrived  b\-  a  missionarj'.  Indeed,  the  good  work  of 
the  missionaries  is  found  wherever  we  go  on  this  island.  The  Bible  is  the  chief  book. 
There  are  churches  and  schools.  One  of  the  group  of  islands  has  a  college  of  fifty-five 
students  in  preparation  for  the  ministry.  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands  can 
read  and  write.  There  are  no  doubt  enough  bad  people.  Three  ships  of  war  lying  for  the 
most  time  in  the  harbor  keep  the  natives  familiar  with  the  vices  of  more  civilized  nations. 
The  beach-combers,  as  they  are  called  at  Samoa — that  is,  the  men  who  combine  the  work 
of  wrecker,  pirate,  thief,  desperado,  and  agent  for  the  slums — are  found  here ;  but  every 
city  that  I  know  of  has  its  beach-combers,  and  the  poor  swindled  immigrants  find  them 
more  numerous  at  Boston,  New  York  and  Liverpool  than  the  voyagers  of  the  Pacific  find 
them  at  Samoa. 

These  islands  are  more  thorough  Sabbath-keepers  than  you  will  find  in  almost  any 
land  of  all  the  earth.  From  early  morning  until  late  at  night  on  Sabbath,  the  whole  town, 
with  few  exceptions,  is  given  up  to  devotion.  At  half-past  six  on  Sabbath  morning  the 
church  bells  ring,  and  the  people  put  on  their  best  attire  and  assemble  for  worship.  Again, 
in  mid-afternoon,  the  church  bells  ring,  and  the  people  gather.  Far  on  into  the  Sunday 
night  the  Christian  songs  may  be  heard,  caught  up  and  sounded  back  from  home  to  home, 
and  from  mountain  to  beach.  There  is  far  more  Sabbath  kept  in  Samoa  than  in  any 
town  or  city  in  America  of  the  same  size.  But  this  was  not  always  so.  From  what 
cruelty  Christian  civilization  has  lifted  it !  In  olden  time  when  they  conquered  an  enemy 
they  broke  his  spine.  To  add  to  the  humiliation  of  the  defeated,  some  of  them  were 
7 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


99 


roasted  and  eaten.  When  a  woman  was  candidate  for  marriage  to  some  chief,  she  was 
seated  in  the  market-place  for  the  public  to  decide  whether  she  were  fit  for  such  marriage. 
If  they  decided  in  the  negative,  she  was  clubbed  to  death. 

They  worshiped  the  dog,  or  the  eel,  or  the  turtle,  or  the  lizard,  or  the  shark.  "  Rack!" 
cried  the  Christian  religion  to  such  monstrosities  of  behavior,  and  all  things  changed. 

TATTOOING    -AND    OCE.AX    CHROM.\TICS. 

The  Samoans  have  not  much  use  for  clothes.  I  saw  no  fashion-plates  in  the  windows. 
A  tailor  would  starve  to  death  in  Samoa.  Lack  of  complete  physical  investiture  comes  not 
from  undue  economy,  not  from 
pauperism,  not  from  immorality, 
but  originally  from  the  fact  that, 
on  these  islands,  the  climate  is 
so  mild  the  year  round  that  ne- 
cessity does  not  make  inexor- 
able demand  upon  weavers  and 
clothiers. 

But  gradually  calicoes  and 
nankeens  and  alpacas  are  com- 
ing into  demand.  The  Samoan 
somewhat  substitutes  tattooing, 
which  in  some  cases  appears 
quite  like  a  suit  of  clothes.  In 
the  boat  crossing  from  wharf  to 
steamer  I  put  my  hand  on  the 
knee  of  a  Samoan,  and  said, 
"You  are  tattooed."  He  re- 
plied, "  Yes  ;  that  me  clothes." 
I  said,  "  When  do  you  have  that 
tattooing  done  ?"  He  answered, 
'•'  Twenty  years  of  age."  I  said, 
"Does  it  hurt?"  He  replied, 
"  Oh,  yes  !  Hurt !  Swell  up  !" 
I  asked,  "  How  long  does  it  take 
to  have  that  tattooing  done  ?" 
He  answered,  "  Two  months." 
Indeed,  all  the  men  I  noticed 
had  been  tattooed.  It  is  a  badge 
of  manhood.  A  man  is  not  re- 
spected unless  tattooed.  He 
would  be  thrust  out  of  society 
or  not  admitted.  The  most  profitable  business  is  that  of  tattooing.  The  artist  retires  to 
the  bush  with  a  few  candidates  for  two  or  three  months.  Every  day,  as  the  patient  can 
endure  it,  the  pricking  in  of  tlv   paint  by  needles  and  sharp-tooth  combs,  the  process  goes  on. 

The  suffering  is  more  or  less  great,  but  one  must  be  in  the  fashion  ;  yet  I  suppose  in 
this  there  is  no  more  pain  than  that  which  men  and  women  suflfer  in  the  martyrdom  of 
fashion  through  which  some  people  go  in  the  higher  civilized  life.     What  tight  boots  with 


KING   AND   QUEEN    OF   SAMOA. 

In  such  attire  the  Oueeu  smiled  on  us. 


lOO 


THE   EARTPI   GIRDLED. 


agony  of  corns  !  What  piercing  of  the  ear  lobes  for  diamond  rings  !  What  crncifixion  of 
stout  waists  to  make  them  of  more  moderate  size !  The  tattooing  is  onl\-  another  form 
of  worship  at  tlie  altar  of  fasliion — no  flinciiing  on  the  part  of  the  tattooed,  no  backing  out. 

The  work  done,  he  who  went  into 
the  bush  a  bo\-  comes  out  a  man. 

As  we  passed  along  the  main 
street  of  the  island,  we  had  a  crowd 
after  us  with  something  to  sell.  To 
buy  a  flower  or  a  shell  was  greatly 
to  reinforce  the  number  of  the  es- 
corting party.  The  men  are  muscu- 
lar and  well  formed.  The  children 
are  beautiful.  As  to  the  women, 
ever)-  nation  has  its  type  of  female 
beauty,  and  no  one  of  another  nation 
is  competent  to  judge  concerning  it. 
But  there  goes  the  whistle  of  the 
"  Alameda."  It  has  to  sound  three 
times,  and  then  off  for  New  Zealand. 
We  wait  for  the  second  whistle  and 
then  start.  Over  the  rolling  billows 
to  the  ladder  of  the  steamer,  and  up 
to  our  old  place  on  the  good  ship,  to 
which  we  again  trtist  our  lives. 
What  a  mystery  it  must  be  to  all  the 
innumerable  creatures  of  the  deep. 
We  discuss  some  flying  fish,  or  see 
once  in  a  voyage  a  spouting  whale, 
but  we  never  realize  that  we  are  be- 
ing discussed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
an  element  filled  with  so  much  life 
that  our  captain  says  when  a  whale 
is  wounded  by  its  captors,  it  requires 
two  men  to  keep  off  the  sharks 
while  the  captive  is  being  drawn  in. 
What,  suppose  you,  the  inhabitants 
of  Oceana  think  of  this  ship  floating 
above  them,  of  the  bow  plowing 
through,  of  the  screw  stirring  the 
wave,  of  the  passengers  bending  over 
the  railing?  Ex-ers'  moment,  as  we 
pass  on  by  day  and  night,  there  are  thousands  of  ichthyological  inquiries  of  "  What's 
that?"  What  do  the  seagulls  flying  hundreds  of  miles  from  shore  think  of  us?  What  do 
the  sharks  think?  What  do  the  whales  think?  What  does  the  octopus  think?  We  are 
as  great  mysteries  to  them  as  they  are  to  us.  And  now  we  come  back  to  study  that  which 
has  been  to  me  one  of  the  great  wonders  in  my  voyages  across  the  Atlantic,  and  is  now  as 
fascinating  in  my  first  vo^'age  over   the   Pacific,  and   will,  I   suppose,  be   to   me  as  great  a 


BURMKSE   MOTHER   AND   SON,  SHOWING   SAMPLE   OF  TATTOOING 
AMONG   UNCIVILIZED    RACES. 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


lOI 


wonder  until  the  last  push  of  the  steamer  after  I  have  entered  New  York  harbor.  I  mean 
the  architecture  and  adornment  of  an  ocean  wave.  What  mathematics  could  contrive  its 
curve,  or  what  compass  execute  it  ?  Its  gracefulness,  its  ease,  its  perfection,  its  suggestive- 
ness  of  more  curves  if  it  desired  to  make  them.  Then  the  lace-work  of  foam  hung  on  it, 
all  its  threads  woven  by  the  finger  of  God,  and  looped  up,  and  unrolled  and  folded  and  put 
back  on  shelves  of  crystal.  Then  the  top  of  the  wave,  as  it  makes  up  its  mind  to  recoil  or 
drop  on  the  other  side  or  mount  higher.  Now  the  white  melting  into  the  blue,  like  snowy 
clouds  dissolving  into  the  blue  of  skies.  Then  two  waves,  each  garnitured  with  surf,  rising 
to  meet  each  other,  and  married   into  one  bliss  of  opalescence   and   emerald  and  firt-.      <  'li  ! 


SAMOAN   GIRLS   MAKING    KAVA. 

the  rise,  the  rush,  the  arch,  the  fall,  the  voice,  the  splendor,  the  convolution,  the  miracle, 
the  coronation,  the  Divinity  in  an  ocean  billow.  All  the  harmonies  of  heaven  did  not 
make  St.  John  forget  the  "  voice  of  many  waters." 

But  there  is  the  illumined  wave,  or  the  one  that  glows  as  it  is  struck  through  with 
light  from  the  other  side,  or  the  wave  that  takes  on  the  colors  of  hovering  cloud,  and  is 
saffron  or  orange  or  solferino  or  beryl  or  amber  or  tlie  shifting  of  all  the  colors  from  the 
centre  of  the  wave's  curve  to  the  coronal  and  the  base.  Oh,  the  living  wave,  tlie  inspired 
wave,  the  pictured  wave,  the  wave  just  born,  or  the  wave  just  dying.  The  complexion  of 
the  wave  is  ever  changing:  florescent,  rubescent,  iridescent.  Now  phosphorescence 
decorates  it  with  a  flash,  or  the  night  sinks  into  it  a  silver  anchorage  of  star,  or  the  morning 


l»  '^i 


(I.  .2 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


103 


puts  upon  its  brow  a  coronet.  Blanched  into  wliite  or  blushed  into  carmine.  Now  black 
as  a  raven's  wing  ;  now  roseate  as  the  flamingo's  plumage.  From  russet  to  ultramarine, 
and  thence  to  malachite,  then  incarnadined  as  if  wounded,  into  vermilion  or  magenta.  I 
celebrate  not  the  ocean.  It  is  too  big.  I  celebrate  only  one  ocean  wave.  But  there  are 
times  when  it  is  hushed  to  sleep,  on  the  great  bosom  of  its  mother  which  never  ceases  to 
Iieave  ;  for  though  the  billow  may  slumber,  the  ocean  keeps  its  everlasting  swell.  The 
child  may  sleep  while  the  mother  rests  not.  But  he  who  has  only  studied  the  wave  asleep, 
or  the  wave  aroll,  does  not  fully  know  it.  The  wave  has  moods.  It  sometimes  passes  from 
the  calm  to  the  irate,  from  the  beautiful  to  the  awful,  from  the  pleasant  to  the  terrific, 
from  the  slumberous  to  the  paroxysmal,  from  aesthetics  to  demoniacs,  and  though  now  it 
may  play  with  the 
zephyr,  it  may  after- 
ward wrestle  with 
Caribbean  whirl- 
wind or  jMediterra- 
nean  en  roc  1yd on. 
Nothing  can  stand 
before  it  when  com- 
manded to  destro}'. 
It  rallies  from  the 
abysms  a  semi-om- 
nipotence. From 
all  sides  under  the 
strength  of  the 
winds  it  rolls  toward 
the  shore  or  bom- 
bards the  ship.  It 
was  one  wave  that 
consummated  al- 
most every  ship- 
wreck. The  preliminary  waves,  the  preparatory  forces,  the  introductory  furies  may  have 
done  their  work,  but  the  final  stroke  was  left  for  one  climacteric  force,  and  that  gathered 
and  rolled  up  and  surged  forward,  black  with  wrath,  and  charged  upon  the  palaces  of  the 
deep,  submerging  them,  or  moved  into  the  unsheltered  harbor  with  the  twisted  bolts,  and 
the  split  beams  of  ocean  conquerors.  The  capsized  "Adler"  of  the  German  navy  l}'ing  on  its 
side,  rusted  and  ri\-en  and  parted  amidships,  shows  what  a  wave,  once  blue-eyed,  and  rocked 
in  the  lap  of  a  bright  day,  and  lullabied  of  soft  winds,  may  grow  up  to  be  when,  with 
demoniac  yell  and  crushing  vengeance,  and  all-conquering  might,  it  swears  the  doom  of 
everything  between  the  coral  reefs  and  the  beach  of  the  harbor  of  Samoa. 

The  ocean  sentenced  to  death  in  the  Book  which  says  "  There  shall  be  no  more  sea," 
seems  detennined  to  demonstrate,  before  it  is  slain,  what  one  wave  can  do,  in  lighting  up 
the  world  with  the  beautiful,  or  blackening  it  under  the  swoop  of  a  tornado. 


>AMOAN    RESIDENCE   IN   THE   COUNTRY  AS   I   SAW    IT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


UNDER  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 

OHERE  are  some  things  in  the  mind  year  after  year  remaining  undefined.  Tlic 
time  for  explanation  does  not  seem  to  come.  We  had  for  years  seen  allusions 
to  the  Southern  Cross.  We  knew  not  what  it  meant.  We  supposed  it  to  be  an 
appearance  in  the  heavens  at  certain  latitude  and  longitude,  yet  we  knew  not 
exactly  what  that  appearance  was.  But  seated  a  few  nights  ago  on  the  deck  of  this  ship 
in  our  voyage  around  the  world  a  gentleman  bent  over  me  and  said,  "  The  Southern  Cross 
is  visible.  L,et  us  go  and  see  it."  Going  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  ship  I  looked  up  and 
beheld  it  in  all  its  suggestiveness  looking  down  upon  us  and  looking  down  upon  the  sea. 
The  Southern  Cross !  It  is  made  up  of 
four  bright  stars.  One  star  standing  at  the 
top  of  the  perpendicular  piece  of  the  cross, 
and  another  star  standing  for  the  foot  of 
it.  One  star  standing  for  the  right  liand 
end  of  the  horizontal  piece  of  the  cross, 
and  another  star  for  the  left  hand  end  of 
it.  So  clear,  so  resplendent,  so  charged 
with  significance,  so  sublimely  marking 
off  the  heavens  that  neither  man  nor 
woman  nor  child  nor  angel  nor  devil  can 
doubt  it.  The  Southern  Cross  !  To  make 
it  God  put  those  four  worlds  in  their  places. 
The  tender  and  tremendous  emblem  of  our 
religion  nailed  against  the  heavens  with 
silver  nails  of  star.  Four  are  enough.  God 
wastes  no  worlds.  He  will  not  encourage 
stupidity.  If  you  cannot  see  the  Southern 
Cross  in  the  four  stars,  forty  stars  will  not 
make  you  see  it.  Up  yonder  they  stand, 
the  four  stellar  evangelists  upholding  the 
cross.  What  a  Gospel  of  the  firmament ! 
The  cross  that  Constantine  saw  in  the  .sky 
with  the  words  "  By  this  conquer,"  was  an 
evanescent  cross  and  for  one  night,  but 
this  Southern  Cross  is  for  all  nights,  and 
to  last  while  creation  lasts.  So  every  night  of  this  vo>-age  among  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  I  am  reminded  by  this  celestial  crucifix  of  the  only  influence  that  has  turned  the 
islands  from  their  cruelty,  and  shamelessness,  and  horror,  the  influence  of  the  Cross. 

Excepting  the  throne  of  the  Deity  I  think  there  will  be  no  higher  thrones  in  heaven 
than  those   occupied  by  the    missionaries.       Others  have    lived  and   died   for   their  own 

(104) 


MAORI    0HII:F,   new   ZK.M.AXn. 
Brought  bv  the  author. 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


f05 


country'.  These  lived  and  died  for  the  natives  of  other  countries.  Many  of  the  mission- 
aries were  the  graduates  of  Yale,  or  Princeton,  or  New  Brunswick,  or  Oxford,  or  Cambridge, 
or  Edinburgh,  and  were  qualified  for  pulpits,  for  editorial  chairs,  for  medical  achieve- 
ment, for  great  words  and  deeds  in  court  rooms,  for  commercial  successes  that  would  have 
brought  all  honors  and  all  luxuries  to  their  feet.  IManv  of  the  women  of  this  foreign 
mission  cause  were  brought  up  in  refined  associations,  could  play  well  on  musical  instru- 
ments, were  the  charm  of  best  society,  had  attractiveness  that  fitted  them  for  any  circle  of 
ease  or  opulence.  Such  men  and  women  took  whale-ships  for  foreign  lands,  lived  on  fare 
that  only  coarsest  digestive  organs  could  manage,  were  tossed  for  months  on  rough  seas, 
landed  amid  naked  savages,  abode  in  grass  huts,  spent  their  life  amid  the  squalor  and  the 
stench,  and  the  vermin  and  the  epidemics  and  the  low  vices  of  those  whom  they  had  come 
to  rescue.  Of  a  roll  of  a  hundred  and  eighty  names  of  such  men  and  women  not  more  than 
four  or  five  of  them  were  ever  heard  of  outside  of  their  own  kindred  or  the  circles  of 
barbarians  among  whom  they  lived.  The  story  of  the  Christian  heroes  and  heroines  who 
came  to  these  islands  of  the 
Pacific  in  the  brig  "  Thad- 
deus,"  the  "  Leland,"  the 
"  Benjamin  Bush,"  the  "  Av- 
erich,"  and  the  "Mary 
Frazier"  under  Captain 
Charles  Sumner,  can  never 
be  fully  told.  All  the  tal- 
ents, all  the  scholarship,  all 
the  nerve  and  muscle  and 
brain,  all  the  spiritual  ener- 
gies of  these  Christly  men 
and  women  put  forth  on  be- 
half of  people  whom  they 
had  never  seen,  and  whose 
names  they  had  never  heard 
pronounced  until  the  day  of 
arrival  on  these  islands. 
Some  of  these  messengers  of 
light  were  cut  to  pieces  and  devoured  by  cannibals.  Some  of  them  toiled  to  save  the 
besotted  savages  while  profligates  of  Christian  countries  landed  from  merchantman  or  war- 
vessel  or  whaling  ship  were  trj'ing  to  destroy  them. 

The  daughter  of  one  of  the  missionary  families  describes  her  mother  as  toiling  until 
the  skin  was  blistered  off  her  arms  and  says  that  while  her  father  was  about  to  preach, 
a  group  of  drunken  sailors  broke  the  windows  and  brandished  a  knife  about  his  face, 
saying,  "Here  he  is;  I  have  got  him!  Come  on!"  These  missionaries  sent  their  little 
children  to  America  and  Europe  becaitse  they  could  not  be  properly  brought  up  amid 
heathenism,  and  what  heart-rending  partings  took  place  as  fathers  and  mothers  surrendered 
their  children  for  the  voyage  across  the  seas,  in  many  cases  those  parents  never  seeing  their 
children  again.  Xo  regular  postal  arrangements,  letters  were  sometimes  not  received  until 
eighteen  months  or  two  years  old.  The  ship-captain,  Charles  Sumner,  for  the  first  part  of 
the  voyage  to  the  Pacific  with  his  group  of  missionaries  scoffed  at  Christianity,  but  he  was 
converted  under  the  influence  of  their  example,  and  became  their  champion.     He  said  about 


A   MAORI   DWELLING. 


io6  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

one  of  these  Pacific  islands,  "  I  have  been  here  before  and  I  see  the  difference.  Formerly  as 
soon  as  my  anchor  was  down  my  ship  was  surrounded  by  dissolute  men  and  women 
swimming  out  from  shore  and  trying  to  come  aboard.  How  different  now !  Christianity 
has  made  the  change."  And  when  some  one  traduced  the  missionaries  he  said,  "  Oh,  you 
need  not  tell  me  these  stories.  I  have  lived  four  months  with  these  dreadful  people  and 
know  them  well.  I  know  the  natives,  too,  as  they  were  many  years  ago  and  I  am  fully 
convinced  that  the  change  I  see  is  from  the  influence  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible." 

One  boy  was  the  means  of  the  civilization  and  evangelization  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
His  father  and  mother  were  killed  and  he  ran  away  with  his  bab}-  brother  on  his  back. 
The  infant  was  slain  by  a  spear.  The  heroic  boy  got  on  a  ship  for  New  England.  He  was 
found  weeping  on  the  steps  of  Yale  College,  Connecticut.  He  told  the  story  of  his  native 
island.  That  story  aroused  the  Christian  world.  "A  little  child  shall  lead  them."  The 
Tahitian  Islands  have  felt  the  same  supernal  power.  They  had  been  in  the  habit  of  slaying 
aged  parents,  and  when  there  were  too  many  children  in  a  family  they  were  put  out  of  the 
way.  Cannibalism  was  a  part  of  the  diet.  There  was  no  law  of  morality  for  unmarried 
women.  One  of  their  religious  sacrifices  was  a  man  and  a  pig  roasted  together.  In  the 
Fiji  Islands  parents  were  buried  alive,  and  wives  were  captured  as  buffalo  are  lassoed. 
Incantation  was  common  and  snake  worship  prevailed.  Among  the  Marquesans  poh'andry, 
or  the  custom  of  having  many  husbands,  was  considered  right.  An  iron  needle  was  worn 
in  the  nostril.  The  lower  lip  by  force  of  torture  was  driven  out  to  utmost  distortion. 
There  was  a  canonization  of  filth  and  obscenity  and  massacre.  The  Friendly  Islands  and 
the  Society  Islands  were  at  the  lowest  depths  in  morals  and  cruelt\-.  All  these  islands 
have  been  illumined,  and  the  most  of  the  abominations  have  sped  away,  not  because  of  the 
threat  of  foreign  guns  or  as  a  result  of  national  or  international  politics,  but  by  the  influ- 
ence of  that  which  yonder  mighty  crucifix  in  the  night  sk}'  typifies.  Let  no  ship  captain 
ever  see  it  from  a  deck  on  the  Pacific,  or  passenger  whether  for  pleasure  or  profit  sailing 
amid  these  islands  behold  it,  without  remembering  what  the  Southern  Cross  has  done  for 
the  besotted  savages,  bounded  on  all  sides  by  these  vast  wildernesses  of  water. 

Oh,  that  Southern  Cross  !  Were  ever  four  worlds  better  placed  than  those  which  com- 
pose it  ?  Though  they  were  uninhabited,  and  built  only  for  this  significance,  they  were 
worthily  built.  Shine  on  until  all  the  people  of  this  hemisphere  who  see  thee  shall 
bethink  themselves  of  the  sacrifice  thou  dost  depict !  A  cross  not  made  out  of  darkness, 
but  out  of  light.  A  cross  strong  enough  for  all  nations  who  see  it  to  hang  their  hopes 
upon.  One  night  while  I  watched  this  celestial  crucifix,  the  clouds  gathered,  and  the  top 
of  the  cross  was  gone,  and  the  foot  of  it  was  gone,  and  the  outspread  arms  were  gone.  No 
more  of  it  to  be  seen  than  if  it  had  never  been  hoisted.  Had  the  clouds  conquered  the 
stars?  No.  After  a  while  the  clouds  parted  and  rolled  back  and  off,  and  there  it  stood 
with  the  same  old  emblazonment — the  Southern  Cross.  So  the  hostilities  of  earth  and  hell 
may  roll  up  and  seem  to  destro}-  the  hope  of  communities  and  of  nations,  but  in  God's  good 
time  the  antagonisms  will  fall  back,  and  all  obscurations  will  be  dispelled,  and  all  the  earth 
shall  see  it,  the  Southern  cross  for  the  South,  the  Northern  cross  for  the  North,  the  Eastern 
cross  for  the  East,  the  Western  cross  for  the  West,  but  all  four  of  the  crosses  found  at  last 
in  the  new  astronomy  of  the  gospel  to  be  one  and  the  same  cross,  that  which  was  set  up 
1900  years  ago,  and  of  wdiich  I  have  found  either  a  prophecy  or  a  reminiscence  in  that 
uplifted  splendor,  seen  night  by  night  while  pacing  the  deck  of  a  steamer  on  the  Pacific. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

ANTIPODEAN    EXPERIENCES   AND    BALAKLAVA    ON    A    DINING-TABLE 

OHE  Angels  of  Night  were  descending  from  the  evening  skies,  and  ascending 
from  the  waves  of  the  Pacific,  and  riding  down  in  black  cliariot  of  shadow  from 
the  mountains  of  New  Zealand  as  we  approached  the  harbor  of  Auckland,  and 
the  lighthouse  on  the  rocks  held  up  its  great  torch  to  keep  us  off  the  reefs  and 
to  show  us  the  way  to  safe  wharfage,  seeming  to  say,  "  Yonder  is  a  path  of  waves  !  Ride 
into  peace  !     Accept  the  welcome  of  this  island  continent !" 

It  was  half-past  seven  o'clock  when  the  great  screw  of  our  steamer  ceased  to  swirl  the 
waters,  and  the  gang-plank  was  lowered  and  we  descended  to  the  firm  land,  our  name  called 
as  we  heard  it  spoken  by  a  multitude  who  were  there  to  greet  us.  Strange  sensation  was 
it,  10,000  miles  from  home,  to  hear  our  name  pronounced  by  those  whose  faces  we  had 
never  seen  before,  and  whose  faces  could  be  only  dimly  seen  now  by  the  lanterns  on  the 
docks  and  the  lights  of  our  ship,  just  halted  after  a  long  voyage.  What  made  the  night  to 
me  more  memorable,  was  that  I  was  suddenly  informed  that  at  eight  o'clock  I  was  to 
lecture  in  their  hall,  and  thirty  minutes  was  short  time  to  allow  a  poor  sailor  like  my.self  to 
get  phvsical  and  mental  equipoise,  after  twenty-one  days'  pitching.  But  at  eight  o'clock  I 
was  ready  and  confronted  a  throng  of  people,  cordial  and  genial  as  any  one  ever  saluted 
from  platform  or  pulpit. 

I  told  how  for  many  days  I  had  been  looking  off  upon  a  great  ocean  of  ipecac,  but  that 
I  had  not  wanted,  as  many  say  under  such  circumstances,  to  be  thrown  overboard,  and  that 
I  did  not  think  any  one  ever  did  want  to  be  thrown  overboard,  and  reminded  them  of  the 
sea-sick  voyager,  who  said  he  wished  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea,  and  the  captain  had  a 
sailor  dash  on  him  a  pail  full  of  cold  ocean  water,  and  when  the  soaked  and  shivering  man 
protested  and  asked  what  the  captain  meant  by  such  an  insult,  the  captain  replied,  "  You 
wanted  to  be  thrown  overboard,  and  I  thought  I  would  let  }"ou  try  how  }-ou  liked  a  bucket 
of  the  water  before  you  took  the  whole  ocean." 

Never  so  glad  were  we  to  stand  on  firm  land  as  the  night  of  our  arrival  at  Auckland. 
Wondrous  New  Zealand  !  Few  people  realize  how  it  was  discovered.  The}-  tell  us  of 
Captain  Cook  and  of  Dutch  navigators,  but  all  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea,  as  well  as  this 
immense  New  Zealand,  were  discovered  as  a  result  of  the  effort  to  watch  the  transit  of  Venus 
over  the  sun's  disk  from  the  South  Seas.  The  Royal  Societ)-  of  Great  Britain  sent  out  ships 
for  this  purpose,  and  Captain  Cook,  and  the  astronomers  and  the  botanists  who  accompanied 
him  on  his  voyage,  were  only  the  agents  of  science.  How  the  interests  of  this  world  are 
linked  with  the  behavior  of  other  worlds,  and  how  the  fact  mentioned  suggests  that  most  of 
the  valuable  things  known  in  this  world  have  been  found  out  while  looking  for  something 
else,  and  what  sublimity  all  this  gives  to  the  work  of  the  explorer ;  the  transit  of  Venus,  an 
island  of  light,  resulting  in  the  transit  of  nuany  islands  from  the  unknown  into  the  well 
known.  But  the  prowess  of  such  men  can  never  be  fully  appreciated.  The  sea  captain 
who  puts  out  in  this  day  of  charts  and  navigating  apparatus  with  a  ship  of  10,000 
tons  for  another  hemisphere,  daring  typhoons  and  cyclones,  strange  currents  and  hidden 

(107) 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  109 

rocks,  must  be  a  brave  man  ;  but  who  can  uieasure  the  courage  of  Cabot,  or  Marco  Polo,  or 
Captain  Cook,  sailing  out  into  unknown  seas,  across  wildernesses  of  water  that  have  never 
been  mapped,  in  ships  of  200  tons,  discovering  rocks  only  by  running  upon  them,  and  met 
on  shore  by  savages  ready  to  scalp  or  roast  them.  These  challengers  of  tempest  and 
cannibalism  and  oceanic  horror  must  have  had  nerve  and  valor  beyond  that  of  any  other 
heroes.  Such  men  set  New  Zealand  as  a  gem  into  the  crown  of  the  world's  geography. 
To  me,  and  to  most  people  who  come  here.  New  Zealand  is  a  splendid  surprise.  We  have 
all  read  so  much  about  the  superstitions  and  outrageous  cruelties  of  this  land  in  other  times 
that  we  are  startled  on  arriving  here  to  find  more  churches  in  New  Zealand  than  in 
America  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  population.  In  one  village  that  I  visited  since 
coming  here  I  find  eight  churches  to  a  population  of  3000  people.  There  are  too  many 
churches  in  many  places  in  New  Zealand  and  they  jostle  each  other,  and  contend  for  right 
of  possession,  hindering  each  other  and  half  starving  many  of  their  ministers,  as  is  sure  to 
be  the  case  when  there  are  too  many  churches  and  consequenth-  not  enough  support  for 
every  one  of  them. 

Another  surprise  to  me  is  that  female  suffrage  is  in  full  blast.  I  found  elegant  ladies 
telling  of  their  experience  at  the  ballot  box,  and  I  hereby  report  to  the  .\merican  ladies 
now  moving  for  the  right  of  female  suffrage  that  New  Zealand  is  clear  ahead  of  them,  and 
that  the  experiment  has  been  made  here  successful!}'.  Instead  of  the  ballot  box  degrading 
woman,  woman  is  here  elevating  the  ballot  box,  and  why  in  New  Zealand,  or  America,  or 
anywhere  else,  should  man  be  so  afraid  to  let  women  have  a  vote,  as  though  man  himself 
had  made  such  a  grand  use  of  it.  Look  at  the  illiterates  and  the  incompetents  who  have 
been  elected  to  office,  and  see  how  poorly  the  masculines  have  exercised  the  right  of  suf- 
frage. Look  at  the  o-overnments  of  nine-tenths  of  the  American  cities  and  see  what  work 
the  ballot  box  has  done  in  the  possession  of  man.  Man  at  the  ballot  box  is  a  failure;  give 
woman  a  chance.  I  am  not  clear  that  governmental  affairs  will  be  made  an}-  better  by  the 
change,  but  they  cannot  be  any  worse.  New  Zealand  has  tried  it,  let  England  and  America 
try  it.  It  is  often  said  in  .\merica  that  if  women  had  the  right  to  vote  they  would  not 
exercise  it.  For  the  refutation  of  that  theory  I  put  the  fact  that  in  the  last  election  in  New 
Zealand,  of  109,000  women  who  registered  90,000  have  voted,  while  of  the  193,000  men 
who  registered  only  129,000  have  voted.  This  ratio  shows  that  women  are  more  an.xious 
to  vote  than  men.  Perhaps  woman  will  yet  save  politics.  I  know  the  charge  that  she  is 
responsible  for  the  ruin  of  the  race,  since  she  first  ate  the  forbidden  fruit  in  Paradise, 
but  I  think  there  is  a  chapter  in  that  matter  of  Edenic  fruit  not  written.  I  think  that 
Adam,  when  he  saw  Eve  eating  that  apple,  asked  for  a  bite,  and,  getting  it  into  his  posses- 
sion, ate  the  most  of  it,  and  that  he  immediately  shook  the  tree  for  more  apples  and  has 
been  eating  ever  since.  If  woman  did  first  transgress  I  cannot  forget  that  she  intro- 
duced into  the  world  the  only  Being  who  has  ever  done  much  toward  saving  it.  Woman 
has  started  for  suffrage  and  she  is  a  determined  and  persevering  creature,  and  she  will 
keep  on  until  she  gets  it.  She  may  yet  decide  the  elections  in  England,  and  elect  Presi- 
dents for  the  United  States,  as  already  she  is  busy  in  the  political  affairs  of  New  Zealand. 
I  was  surprised  also  in  these  regions  to  find  how  warrah'  loyal  they  are  to  old  England.  I 
had  heard  that  they  had  become  somewhat  impatient  of  their  governmental  mother.  But 
this  is  not  so.  They  practically  have  things  their  own  way,  electing  their  own  Parliament, 
and  all  governors  sent  out  from  the  old  country  are  such  men  as  are  agreeable,  and  the 
people  are  required  to  pay  no  tax  to  the  British  crown,  and  they  are  in  good  humor  with 
the  British  flag. 


no 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


I  addressed  an  audience  last  night,  on  my  right  hand  the  United  States  flag,  on  my 
left  hand  the  English  flag,  and  you  ought  to  have  heard  them  shout  when,  at  the  beginning 
of  my  address  I  said,  "  When  in  my  church  at  liome  I  pray  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States  I  am  very  apt  to  add  God  save  the  Queen." 

Many    of    the  streets  of    New    Zealand   cities  are  called   after   the    generals  and  the 

prime  ministers  of 
Great  Britain  ; 
Wellington  and 
Palmerston  and 
Gladstone  are  the 
names  of  great 
thoroughfares. 
New  Zealand 
fe  els  the  finan- 
cial dej^ression 
very  much,  as 
the  whole  world 
at  this  time  seems 
suffering  an  epi- 
demic. Indeed, 
the  world  is  now 
'■^  a  compressed  and 
interlocked  affair. 
Out  of  the  hold 
of  our  ship  a  r- 
r  i  \-  i  n  g  i  n  New 
Zealand  were  lift- 
ed rakes,  plows, 
and  various  agri- 
cultural imple- 
ments of  Ameri- 
can manufacture. 
To-day  all  New 
Zealand  is  rejoic- 
ing  that  the 
A  m  e  r  i  c  a  n  Con- 
g  r  e  s  s  has  put 
wool  on  the  free 
list,  and  the  value 
of  the  sheep  on 
all  these  hillsides 
is  augmented. 

MAORI   WOMEN    .SAI.L:'n.NG,    NEW   ZEALAND.  AuiOUO-       OUr 

most  interesting  hours  in  New  Zealand  were  those  spent  at  the  Bishop's  house  in  Auck- 
land. Lord  Bishop  Cowie  is  a  man  of  marvelous  attractiveness,  and  his  home  is  an 
enchantment,  adorned  with  many  curios  which  he  brought  from  India  when  he  served 
as  chaplain  during  that  war  which  interests  and  appalls  the  world  with  its  tales  of  mutiny. 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


Ill 


While  chaplain,  he  rode  with  Sir  Colin  Campbell  and  his  historical  host  for  the  capture 
of  Lucknow — that  city  whose  name  will  stand  in  the  literature  of  all  ages  as  the  synonym 
for  Sepoy  atrocities,  and  womanly  fortitude  and  Christian  heroics.  He  told  us  most 
graphically  how  the  women  waiting  for  death  at  Lucknow  tore  up  their  underclothes  to 
make  bandages  for  the  wounds  of  the  soldiers,  and  that  when  at  last  these  women  were 
rescued  they  appeared  in  the  brilliant  dress  of  the  ball-room — these  dresses  formerly  worn 
b}'  the  convivial  having  been  suddenly  come  upon,  and  when  the  wives  and  daughters  of 
missionaries  and  Christian  merchants  had  nothing  else  to  wear. 

Lord  Bishop  Cowie  also  had  on  his  walls  pictures  of  some  of  the  most  stirring  scenes 
of  the  Russian  war  with  which  the  military  friends  of  the   Bishop  had  been   cognizant. 


IN    THE    SIBIKKS   OH    AUCKLAND. 

Here  is  a  pictured  scene  where  there  was  no  retreat  for  the  English,  and  yet  their  standing 
firm  seemed  certain  destruction,  and  their  general  cried  out  :  "  Men  !  there  is  no  retreat 
from  this  place  ;  you  will  die  here  !"  and  the  men  replied  :  "  Aye,  aye  ;  we  are  ready  to  do 
that !"  And  yonder  another  pictured  scene  of  Balaklava,  after  the  famous  charge  of  the 
Six  Hundred,  and  the  commander  said  to  the  few  men  who  had  got  back  from  the  awful 
charge:  "Men,  it  was  a  mad-brained  trick,"  and  they  replied,  "Never  mind,  General  ;  we 
would  do  it  again."  The  Bishop's  walls  in  other  places  were  made  interesting  by  swords, 
belts  and  torn  insignia  of  battle  from  the  fields  of  India,  all  the  more  interesting  because 
we  expect,  in  our  journev  around  the  world,  to  visit  Lucknow,  and  Cawnpore,  and  Delhi, 
and  many  of  the  chief  places  made   immortal   by  the  struggle   between   British  valor  and 


112  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

Sepoy  infamy.  And  here,  from  the  Bishop's  own  words,  I  got  a  satisfactory  answer  to  a 
question  that  I  have  asked  many  times,  but  for  wliich  I  never  received  a  satisfactory'  answer. 
I  said,  "  Your  Lordship  knew  the  chief  men  of  Balaklava,  and  will  you  please  explain  to 
me  what  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out,  and  to  which  Tennyson  makes  reference  in  his 
'  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade,'  and  in  that  line  where  he  says,  '  Some  one  had  blundered.' 
Do  von  know,  and  will  you  tell  me,  exactly  what  that  blunder  was  ?"  He  said,  "  I  can,  and 
will."  Then  the  Bishop  illustrated  with  knives  and  forks  and  napkin  rings  on  the  dining  S 
table  the  position  of  the  English  guns,  the  Russian  guns,  and  the  troops.  He  demonstrated  }, 
to  me  plainly  what  the  military  bltmder  was  that  caused  the  dash  and  havoc  of  that  cavalry  |, 
regiment  whose  click  of  spurs,  and  clatter  of  hoofs,  and  jingle  of  bits,  and  spurts  of  blood 
you  hear  in  the  Poet  Laureate's  battle  hymn.  Here  was  the  line  of  the  English  guns,  not 
very  well  defended,  and  yonder  was  the  line  of  Russian  guns,  backed  by  the  whole  Russian 
army.  The  order  was  given  to  the  cavalry  regiment  to  take  care  of  those  English  guns 
and  keep  them  from  being  taken  bv  the  Russians,  and  tlie  command  was,  "Take  care  of 
those  English  guns  !"  But  the  words  were  misunderstood,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the 
order  was  to  capture  the  Russian  artillery.  Instead  of  the  command,  "  Take  care  of  those 
English  guns  !"  it  was  thought  the  command  was,  "  Take  those  Russian  guns  !"  For  that 
ghastly  and  horrible  assault  of  the  impossible,  the  riders  plunged  their  spurs  and  headed 
their  horses  into  certain  death.  At  last  I  had  positive  information  as  to  what  the  blunder 
at  Balaklava  was.  At  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  years  ago,  I  asked  one  of  the  soldiers  who  rode 
in  that  charge  the  .same  question,  but  even  he,  a  participant  in  the  scenes  of  that  fiery  day, 
could  not  tell  me  just  what  the  blunder  was. 

Now  I  have  it  at  last  not  only  told  in  the  stirring  words  of  a  natural  orator  and 
magnetic  talker,  but  on  the  dining  table  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Auckland  I  had  it  set  out 
before  the  e^•e,  dramatized  and  demonstrated  by  the  cutlery  on  the  white  tablecloth  ;  but 
instead  of  the  steel  bayonets,  the  silver  forks  of  a  beautiful  repast ;  and  instead  of  the 
sharp  swords  of  death,  knives  for  bread-cutting;  and  instead  of  the  belching  guns  of 
destn;ction,  the  napkin  rings  of  a  hospitality  the  memory  of  wliich  shall  be  bright  and 
fresh  as  long  as  I  remember  this  visit  to  New  Zealand. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

LECTURE  AT  AUCKLAND,    NEW  ZEALAND.  — "  THE   BRIGHT  SIDE  OF  THINGS." 

OHE  probable  time  of  our  arrival  at  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  had  been  heralded 
before,  by  letters  to  friends,  as  well  as  by  press  announcements,  but  I  was 
surprised  upon  landing  to  find  the  crowd  in  waiting  so  large,  especially  as  the 
ship  was  nearly  twelve  hours  behind  the  time  of  her  expected  coming,  and 
darkness  had  begun  to  settle  upon  the  harbor.  A  vast  sea  of  faces  and  a  shout  of  welcome 
greeted  us  from  the  dock,  and  as  quickly  as  the  vessel  could  be  boarded  from  the  wharf  I 
was  cordially  received  by  representatives  from  the  Ministers'  and  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  hurried  to  the  Opera  House.  There  was  no  time  allowed  for 
any  formal  ceremonies,  which  usually  make  receptions  tedious,  for  when  I  left  the  ship  it 
was  half  past  seven  o'clock  or  within  half  an  hour  of  the  time  that  the  committee  had 
made  arrangements  for  me  to  lecture  to  the  people.  But  the  crowd  had  first  gathered  at  the 
wharf,  and  promptly  repaired  to  the  Opera  House  which  was  soon  filled  to  its  utmost  and 
though  my  physical  condition  was  very  far  from  excellent,  I  had  not  the  heart  to  disappoint 
the  people,  so  I  lectured  to  them  on  "The  Bright  Side  of  Things,"  as  follows: 

IvADiES  AND  Gentlemen  : — It  is  eight  o'clock  now,  and  just  a  half  hour  ago  I  stepped 
ashore  after  a  voyage  of  twenty-two  days  from  San  Francisco  to  New  Zealand.  But  I  hope 
to  gain  equilibrium  enough  to  address  you.  If  we  leave  to  the  evolutionists  to  guess  where 
we  came  from,  and  to  the  theologians  to  prophesy  where  we  are  going  to,  we  still  have  left 
for  consideration  the  fact  that  we  are  here.  And  we  are  here  under  most  interesting 
circumstances.  Of  all  the  centuries  this  is  the  best  century,  and  of  all  the  decades  of  the 
centur\-  this  is  the  best  decade,  and  of  all  the  years  of  the  decade  this  is  the  best  year,  and 
of  all  the  months  of  the  year  this  is  the  best  month,  and  of  all  the  nights  of  the  month  this 
is  the  best  night.  We  are  at  the  very  acme  of  histor\-.  It  took  all  the  ages  to  make  this 
minute  possible.  I  am  very  thankful  for  this  heart\-  reception,  and  the  only  return  I  can 
make  for  )-our  kindness  is  to  ask  you  to  come  and  see  us.  Come  to  New  York,  come  to 
Brooklyn,  come  to  my  house,  but  do  not  all  come  at  once.  This  is  a  very  pleasant  world  to 
live  in.  If  you  and  I  had  been  consulted  as  to  which  of  all  the  stars  we  would  choose  to 
walk  upon,  we  could  not  have  done  a  wiser  thing  than  to  select  this.  I  have  always  been 
glad  that  I  got  aboard  this  planet.  The  best  color  that  I  can  think  of  for  the  sky  is  blue,  for 
the  foliage  is  green,  for  the  water  is  crystalline  flash.  The  mountains  are  just  high  enough, 
the  flowers  sufiiciently  aromatic,  the  earth  just  right  for  solidity  and  curve.  The  human 
face  is  admirably  adapted  for  its  work !  Sunshine  in  its  smile:  Tempest  in  its  frown. 
Two  eyes,  one  more  than  absolutely  necessary,  so  that  if  one  is  put  out,  we  still  can  look 
upon  the  sunrise  and  the  faces  of  our  friends.  One  nose,  which  is  quite  sufficient  for  those 
who  walk  among  so  many  nuisances,  being  an  organ  of  two  stops  and  adding  dignitv  to  the 
human  face  whether  it  have  the  graceful  arch  of  the  Roman,  or  turn  up  toward  the  heavens 
with  celestial  aspirations,  or  wavering  up  and  down,  now  as  if  it  would  aspire,  and  now  as  if 
it  would  descend,  until  suddenly  it  shies  off"  into  an  unexpected  direction,  illustrating  the 
proverb  that  "it  is  a  long  lane  which  has  no  turn." 
8  ("3) 


114 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


Standing  before  any  specimen  of  sculpture  or  painting  or  architecture,  a  dozen  different 
men  will  have  a  dozen  different  sentiments  and  opinions.  That  is  all  right.  We  cannot  all 
think  alike.  But  where  is  the  blasphemer  of  his  God  who  would  criticise  the  arch  of  the 
sky,  or  the  crest  of  a  wave,  or  the  flock  of  snow-white  fleecy  clouds  driven  by  the  shepherd 
of  the  wind  across  the  hilly  pastures  of  the  heavens  ;  or  tiie  curve  of  a  snow  bank,  or  the 
burning  cities  of  the  sunset,  or  the  fern-leaf  pencilings  of  the  frost  on  a  window  pane? 
Where  there  is  one  discord  there  are  a  thousand  harmonies.     A  sky  full  of  robins  to  one 

owl  croaking.  Whole  acres 
of  meadow  land  to  one  place 
cleft  of  the  grave  digger's 
spade.  To  one  mile  of 
rapidswhere  the  river 
writhes  among  the  rocks  it 
has  hundreds  of  miles  of 
gentle  flow — water  lilies 
anchored,  hills  coming 
down  to  bathe  their  feet, 
stars  laying  their  reflections 
to  sleep  in  its  bosom,  boat- 
man's oar  dropping  on  it 
necklaces  of  diamond. 
How  strange  that  in  such  a 
very  agreeable  world  there 
should  be  any  disagreeable 
people.  I  am  very  certain 
there  are  none  of  that  kind 
here  to-night.  I  can  tell 
by  your  looks  that  none 
of  you  belong  to  the  class 
that  I  shall  hold  up  for  ob- 
servation. These  husbands, 
for  instance,  are  all  what 
they  ought  to  be  ;  good  na- 
tured,  as  a  May  morning, 
and  when  the  wife  asks  for 
a  little  spending  money,  the 
good  man  of  the  house 
says  :  "  All  right,  my  dear, 
here's  my  pocketbook,  take 
as  much  as  you  want,  and 
come  soon  again."  And 
these  wives  always  greet  their  husbands  home  with  a  smile,  aud  say  :  "  ^ly  dear,  your  slippers 
are  ready,  and  the  mufhns  warm.  Put  }'our  feet  ujd  on  this  cushion  !  bless  the  dear  man  !  " 
These  brothers  prefer  the  companionship  of  their  own  sisters  to  that  of  anxbody  else's 
sisters,  and  take  them  out  almost  ever}-  night  to  lectures  and  concerts,  and  I  suppose  that 
in  no  other  building  to-night  in  all  the  world  is  a  more  mild,  affable  or  genial  collection  of 
people  than  ourselves.     But  lest  in  the  attritions  of  life  we  should  lose  our  present  amiability, 


MAORI   WIDOWS. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  115 

it  may  be  well  for  us  to  walk  a  little  while  in  the  Rogues'  Gallery  of  disagreeable  people, — 
the  people  who  make  themselves  disagreeable  by  always  seeing  the  dark  side  of  things — 
and  then,  by  reaction  of  soul  we  will  come  to  the  opposite  habit  and  indulge  in  the  finest 
of  all  the  fine  arts,  the  art  of  looking  on  the  bright  side  of  things.  Let  me  say  at  this  point 
in  nn-  lecture  that  my  ideas  of  a  literary  lecture  are  very  much  changed  from  what  they 
used  to  be.  I  used  to  think  that  a  literar>-  lecture  ought  to  be  something  profound,  very 
profound.  I  had  three  or  four  lectures  of  that  kind.  They  were  awfully  profound.  But  I 
have  not  delivered  them  for  sonre  time,  for  there  were  always  two  difficulties  about  those 
very  profound  lectures  :  the  one  was  the  audience  did  not  know  what  I  was  talking  about, 
and  the  other  was  I  did  not  know  nnself.  And  I  made  up  my  mind  that  a  lecture  ought  to 
be  something  genial,  something  helpful,  something  full  of  good  cheer,  for  if  you  can  put 
your  shoulder  under  my  burden,  )'ou  are  my  friend,  and  if  I  can  put  my  shoulder  under 
your  burden  I  will  prove  myself  your  friend.  Let  me  also  say  that  my  ideas  of  religion  are 
a  little  different  from  some  people's.  My  religion  is  sunshine,  and  the  difference  between 
earth  and  heaven  is  that  the  sunshine  of  earth  sometimes  gets  beclouded,  while  heaven  is 
everlasting  sunshine. 

Now,  in  all  the  album  of  photographs  that  I  want  to  put  before  you  to-night,  there  is 
no  face  more  decidedly  characteristic  than  that  of  the  fault-finder.  The  world  has  a  great 
manv  delightful  people  who  are  easily  pleased.  I  am  every  day  surprised  to  find  so  many 
real  clever  people.  They  have  a  faculty  of  finding  out  that  which  is  most  attractive. 
They  never  attended  a  concert,  but  they  heard  at  least  one  voice  that  pleased  them  and 
wondered  how  in  one  throat  God  could  have  put  such  exhaustless  fountains  of  harmony. 
Thev  like  the  spring,  for  it  is  so  full  of  bird  and  bloom,  and  like  a  priestess,  stands  swing- 
ing her  censer  of  perfume  before  God's  altar  ;  and  the  summer  is  just  the  thing  for  them, 
for  they  love  to  hear  the  sound  of  mowing  machines  and  whole  battalions  of  thunderbolts 
grounding  arms  among  the  mountains.  And  autumn  is  just  the  thing  for  them,  for  the 
orchards  are  golden  with  fruit,  and  the  forests  march  with  banners  dipped  in  sunsets,  and 
blood-red  with  the  conflict  of  frost  and  storm.  And  they  like  the  winter,  whose  snow 
showers  make  Parthenons  and  St.  Mark's  Cathedrals  out  of  an  old  pigeon  coop,  and  turn 
the  wood-shed  into  a  royal  tower  filled  with  crown  jewels.  Thus  there  are  persons  pleased 
with  all  circumstances.  If  you  are  a  merchant,  they  are  the  people  you  like  to  have  for 
customers  ;  if  }-ou  are  a  lawyer,  they  are  the  people  you  like  for  clients  and  jurors  ;  if  you 
are  a  phvsician,  they  are  the  people  you  like  for  patients  ;  but  you  don't  often  get  them, 
for  they  can  generally  cure  themselves  by  a  bottle  of  laughter  tc  be  taken  three  or  four 
times  a  day,  and  well  shaken  up.  Now,  in  contrast  with  such,  how  repelling  is  a  fault- 
finder !  Some  evening,  resolving  to  be  especially  gracious,  he  starts  with  his  family  to  a 
place  of  amusement.  He  scolds  most  of  the  way.  He  cannot  afford  the  time  or  the  money, 
and  does  not  believe  it  will  be  much,  anyhow.  The  music  begins.  The  audience  are  thrilled. 
The  orchestra  with  polished  instruments  warble,  and  weep,  and  thunder,  and  pray,  and  all 
the  sweet  sounds  of  the  world  flowering  upon  the  strings  of  the  bass  viol,  and  wreathing 
the  flageolets,  and  breathing  through  the  lips  of  the  cornet,  and  shaking  their  flower  bells 
upon  the  tinkling  tambourine.  He  sits  emotionless  and  disgusted.  He  goes  home  saying, 
"  Did  you  see  that  fat  musician  that  got  so  red  in  the  face  blowing  on  that  French  horn  ? 
Did  you  ever  hear  such  a  voice  as  that  lady  had?  Why,  it  was  a  perfect  squawk.  The 
evening  was  wasted."  And  his  companion  said,  "Why,  my  dear,  you  shouldn't" — "Oh," 
he  says,  "you  be  still.  That's  the  trouble  with  yoii.  You  are  always  pleased  with  every- 
thing."    He    goes   to  church.     Perhaps  the  sermon  is  didactic  and  argumentative.      He 


ii6 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


yawns,  he  twists  himself  in  the  pew  and  pretends  he  is  asleep,  and  says,  "  I  couldn't  keep 
awake.  Did  you  ever  hear  anything  so  dead?  Can  these  dry  bones  live?"  The  next 
Sunday  he  enters  a  church  where  the  minister  is  given  to  illustration.  He  is  still  more 
displeased.  He  sa\-s,  "  How  dare  that  man  bring  such  everyday  things  into  the  pulpit  ?  lie 
ouo-ht  to  have  brought  his  illustrations  from  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and  the  fir  tree,  instead 
of  the  hickory  and  the  sassafras.     He  ought  to  have  spoken  of  the  Euphrates  and  the 

Jordan,  and  not  of  the  Kenne- 
bec  and  the  Schuylkill.     He 
ought    to    have  mentioned 
j\lount  Gerizim  instead  of  the 
Catskills.     Why,  he  ought  to 
be  disciplined."     Perhaps,  after 
a  while   he  joins  the  church, 
and    then  the   church    has  its 
hands  full.       He  growls  and 
groans    and   whines    all  the 
way  up  toward  the  gate  of 
heaven.     He  wishes  that  the 
choir  would  sing  differ- 
ently,   that    the    minister 


FIJIAN    HOUSES. 

would  preach  differently,  that  the  elders  would  pray  differently.  They  painted  the  church. 
He  didn't  like  the  color.  They  carpeted  the  aisle,  he  didn't  like  the  figure.  They 
put  in  a  new  furnace,  he  didn't  like  the  patent.  He  wriggles,  and  squirms,  and  frets, 
and  stews  and  stings  himself  He  is  like  a  horse  that,  prancing  and  uneasy  to  the  bit, 
worries  himself  into  a  lather  of  foam,  while  the  horse  hitched  beside  him  just  pulls 
straight  ahead,  makes  no  fuss,  and  comes  to  his  oats  in  peace.  Like  a  hedgehog,  he  is 
all  quills.       Like  a  crab  that  you  know  always  goes  the  other  way,  and  moves  backward 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  117 

in  order  to  go  forward,  and  turns  in  four  directions  all  at  once,  and  the  first  you  know 
of  his  whereabouts  you  have  missed  him,  and  when  he  is  completely  lost,  he  has  you  by  the 
heel,  so  that  the  first  thing  you  know,  you  don't  know  anything,  and  while  you  expected 
to  catch  the  crab,  the  crab  catches  you.  So  some  men  are  all  crabbed,  hard-shell  obstinacy 
and  opposition.  I  don't  see  how  such  a  one  is  to  get  into  heaven  unless  he  goes  in  back- 
ward, and  then  there  will  be  danger  that  at  the  gate  he  will  tr>-  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  St. 
Peter.  Once  in,  I  fear  he  will  not  like  the  music,  and  the  services  will  be  too  long,  and 
that  he  will  spend  the  first  two  or  three  years  in  trying  to  find  out  whether  the  wall  of 
heaven  is  exactly  plumb.  Let  us  stand  off  from  such  tendencies.  We  can  take  almost 
anvthing  in  life  and  read  it  until  it  is  bright,  or  read  it  until  it  is  dark.  More  depends 
upon  ourselves  than  upon  our  surroundings.  The  heart  right,  all  is  right.  The  heart 
wrong,  all  is  wrong.  A  blacksmith  received  a  letter  from  his  son  at  college.  He,  the 
father,  being  unable  to  read  writing,  with  the  wife  went  down  to  the  butcher  to  get  the 
letter  read.  The  butcher  was  a  rough  man,  and  he  took  up  this  letter  written  by  the  son  at 
college  to  his  father,  the  blacksmith,  and  read  it  in  hard,  rough  voice : 

"  Dear  Father  :     I  am  very  sick.     Send  me  some  money. 

"  Your  son.  John." 

The  father  said,  "  If  he  writes  that  way  to  his  father  he  shan't  have  a  cent."  The 
wife  said,  "  Hans,  the  butcher,  is  a  rough  man,  and  don't  know  how  to  read  it.  Let  us  go 
down  to  the  baker  and  get  the  letter  read.  He  is  a  mild  man,  and  he  will  know  how  to 
read  it."  So  they  went  down  to  the  baker,  who  was  indeed  a  very  mild  man,  and  he  took 
tip  this  letter  and  read  it  in  soft,  smooth,  gentle,  tender  voice : 

"  Dear  F.\ther  :     I  am  very  sick.     Send  me  some  money. 

"  Your  son,  John." 

The  father  said,  "Ah,  if  he  writes  that  way  to  his  father,  he  shall  have  all  he  wants." 
It  is  the  way  you  read  it.  You  can  take  almost  anything  in  life  and  read  it  until  it  is 
bright,  or  read  it  until  it  is  dark.  Listen  for  sweet  notes  rather  than  for  discord,  picking 
tip  marigolds  and  harebells  in  preference  to  thistles  and  coloquintida,  culturing  thyme  and 
.anemones  rather  than  nightshade,  hanging  our  window  blinds  so  we  can  hoist  thein  to  let 
the  light  in  ;  and  in  a  world  where  God  hath  put  exquisite  tinge  upon  the  shell  washed  in 
the  surf,  and  planted  a  paradise  of  bloom  in  a  little  child's  cheek,  and  adorned  the  pillars 
■of  the  rock  by  hanging  tapestry  of  morning  mist,  the  lark  saying,  "  I  will  sing  soprano,"  and 
the  cascade  replying,  "  I  will  carry  the  bass,"  let  us  leave  the  owl  to  hoot,  and  the  frog  to 
•croak,  and  the  bear  to  growl,  and  the  fault-finder  to  complain.  I  would  rather  have  a  man 
go  to  the  opposite  extreme  than  to  that.  Many  years  ago  I  had  a  friend  attending  a  large 
meeting  in  New  York  in  honor  of  a  foreign  patriot,  who  had  just  come  to  the  country.  It 
was  a  noisy  meeting  and  the  speakers  did  not  speak  ver\-  distinctly.  My  friend  sat  far 
back  at  the  door  and  could  not  hear  a  word.  A  man  just  in  front  of  him  seemed  to  hear 
•everything,  and  every  few  moments  would  get  up  with  great  enthusiasm  and  wave  his  hand- 
kerchief and  shout,  "  Hurrah,  hurrah !"  l\Iy  friend  thought  to  himself,  "  That  man 
must  have  a  great  deal  better  hearing  than  I  have,  for  I  can't  hear  a  word."  After  a  while 
there  was  something  said  on  the  platform  that  seemed  particularly  to  please  the  audience, 
and  the  gentleman  in  front  of  ni\  friend,  with  more  enthu.siasm  than  ever,  got  up  and 
waved  his  handkerchief  and  shouted,  "  Hurrah,  hurrah  !"  My  friend  leaned  over  to  him, 
and  said,  "  I  did  not  quite  catch  that  last  thing  that  was  said  ;  what  was  it?"  The  gentle- 
man looked  back,  and  said,  "  I  don't  know  what  it  was,  but  hurrah."     He  had  come  there 


(llSj 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  119 

to  be  pleased  an\  how.      You  tell  me  that  is   one  extreme.      I   know  it,  but  I  had  rather   be 
on  that  extreme  than  upon  the  other  and  never  be  pleased  with  anything. 

Pass  a  little  further  in  this  portrait  gallery,  and  you  come  to  the  man  of  bad  manners, 
chiefly  showing  his  bad  manners  in  the  fact  that  he  finds  the  deficit  in  everything  and  the 
dark  side  of  everything.  Now,  I  have  no  liking  for  Beau  Brummells  or  Lord  Chesterfields. 
I  have  no  retaining  fee  from  any  millinery  or  clothing  establishment.  Indeed,  all  the  fine 
clothes  that  a  tailor's  goose  ever  hatched  out  cannot  make  a  gentleman.  One  day  a 
company  of  mechanics  met  together  and  resolved  that  they  would  manufacture  a  gentleman. 
The  bootmaker  said,  "  I  will  make  a  gentleman's  foot,"  and  the  hatter  said,  "  I  will  make  a 
gentleman's  head,"  and  the  clothier  said,  "  I  will  make  a  gentleman's  body."  The  work 
was  done  and  the  man  went  out,  but  before  night  he  did  something  so  perfectly  contempti- 
ble that  everybody  saw  that  after  all  he  was  not  a  gentleman.  The  next  morning  these 
mechanics  were  met  together,  and  they  were  talking  over  their  failure  in  this  matter,  and  a 
neighbor  came  in  and  said,  "  Sirs,  you  cannot  make  a  gentleman.  God  only  can  make  that 
large-hearted,  magnanimous  being  which  we  call  a  gentleman."  A  very  little  thing  will 
show  you  whether  a  man  is  a  gentleman  or  not.  You  do  not  have  to  see  him  in  a  variet}' 
of  experiences  before  you  make  up  your  mind  in  regard  to  him,  and  you  make  it  up  right. 
Just  as  a  little  conversation  between  a  man  and  his  wife  revealed  all  their  domestic  history. 
They  had  quarreled  a  good  deal,  and  the  husband  had  been  in  the  habit  of  beating  his  wife 
a  great  deal,  and  he  was  about  to  leave  the  world,  and  he  thought  before  he  left  the  world 
he  had  better  say  something  plea.sant  to  his  wife,  and  he  said,  "  My  dear,  I  am  now  going 
to  leave  the  world,  and  I  am  going  to  heaven."  "  Pshaw !"  she  said.  "  You  go  to  heaven  ! 
You  would  look  pretty  stuck  up  in  heaven  !"  "  Well,"  he  responded,  "  Bridget,  bring  me  the 
broom,  and  I'll  give  her  another  walloping  before  I  go."  And  you  have  in  that  little  colloquy 
all  their  domestic  history  as  well  as  if  you  had  it  in  a  half  a  dozen  volumes.  And  so  I 
have  sometimes  seen  a  man  in  one  flash  of  conversation  or  behavior  reveal  all  his  history. 
You  know  him  in  five  miuTites  as  well  as  if  you  knew  him  fifty  years.  You  say  he  is  a 
gentleman,  and  he  is  ;  or  he  is  not,  and  he  is  not.  Neither  can  all  the  arts  of  a  dressmaker 
and  perfumer  make  a  lady,  while  without  any  embellishment  yoii  sometimes  find  her.  I 
saw  her  bend  over  the  dying  soldier.  Her  dress  was  very  much  faded,  and  she  came  out 
from  an  humble  home  with  a  little  basket  full  of  delicacies  on  her  arm.  She  had  a  boy  in 
the  army  who,  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  was  missing.  She  wanted  to  do  something 
for  others.  She  could  do  nothing  for  him.  As  she  walked  through  the  wards  of  the 
hospital  with  a  cheerful  smile,  the  sick  straightened  the  bed  covers  to  look  as  well  as 
possible  as  she  passed,  and  coughed  just  to  make  her  look  that  way.  She  cheered  up 
a  fevered  young  man  who  was  homesick,  and  feared  that  he  would  never  again  see 
familiar  faces.  She  wrote  letters  for  him,  put  ice  on  his  shattered  arm,  turned  his  liot 
pillow,  offered  a  silent  prayer,  and  said,  "  God  do  so  to  me  and  my  soldier  boy  that  is 
missing  if  I  neglect  to  care  for  these  poor  wounded  fellows,"  and  as  she  passed  down  the 
ward,  a  man,  hearing  the  whisper  of  others,  shoves  up  the  bandage  that  covers  his  eyes 
which  had  been  powder-blasted,  and  said,  "  God  bless  her!  "Slay  she  get  back  the  soldier  boy 
that  is  missing."  And  a  great  tall  captain,  wounded  in  the  foot,  whispered  over  to  a  lieu- 
tenant, wounded  in  the  head,  and  said,  "  No  sham  about  that ;  she's  a  lady."  That  vision 
of  kindness  lingers  in  this  soldier's  dream,  and  that  night  he  thinks  he  is  home  again 
beyond  the  prairies.  Cattle  coming  down  the  lane.  The  cherry  trees  in  front  of  the  house 
in  all  their  shaking  leaves  bidding  him  a  welcome.  Arms  of  affection  about  his  neck. 
Children  bringing  out  the  tovs  for  him  to  look  at.     His  little  boy  strutting  the  floor  with 


I20 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


his  father's  knapsack  on.  All  the  household  work  stopped  to  hear  of  his  adventures.  And 
they  shall  meet  again  in  heaven.  Compare  such  a  lady  with  a  woman  I  saw  on  a  street  car  in 
Philadelphia.  A  soldier  came  in  and  sat  near  where  she  was.  With  great  indignation  she  got 
up  and  went  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  car,  and  said,  "  Oh,  the  dirty  fellow  !  "  I  thought 
to   mvself,    "There  is  probably  more    patriotism    in    the    poorest  patch  on    that   soldier's 

back  than  in  all  the 
elegant  regalia  of  that 
woman  from  the  top  rose 
in  her  hat  to  the  toe  of 
her  shoe."  She  was  not 
a  lady-^never  will  be. 
Aye,  when  in  the  street, 
or  hospital,  or  church, or 
lecture  hall,  wherever 
you  are,  you  can  tell 
the  lady.  Two  rough 
boys  were  riding  down 
hill  on  a  sled  on  a  cold 
day.  They  could  not 
guide  the  sled  just  as 
they  wanted  to.  A  lady 
was  passing  by.  The 
sled  ran  against  hei 
and  tore  her  dress  very 
much.  The  boys  were 
rough  fellows, and  stood 
back  expecting  a  volley 
of  scolding,  but  the  lady 
looked  at  her  dress  and 
then  she  looked  at  the 
boys,  and  said,  "Ah, 
boys,  you  have  torn  my 
dress  very  much."  Then 
she  said,  "  Never  mind ; 
I  see  3'ou  did  not  mean 
to  do  it.  Go  on  with 
your  fun."  The  boys 
being  rough  fellows,  one 
ofthemsaidto  theother, 
''Jim,  my  eyes!  Ain't 
she  a  beauty  ?  "  So  you 
instantly  detect  the  gen- 
tleman from  one  who  is  not.  I  sat  in  a  car  on  a  cold  day  coming  from  Philadelphia  to  New 
York.  A  man  had  a  window  up.  By  putting  an  extra  shawl  around  me  I  kept  quite  com- 
fortable, but  there  was  a  sick  lady  in  the  back  part  of  the  car  who  seemed  ver>'  much  disturbed 
by  the  open  window.  I  thought  I  would  go  over  and  ask  the  man  to  put  it  down.  I  took 
on  all  possible  suavity.     My  best  friends  would  not  have  known  me.    I  said,  "My  dear  sir,  will 


A    I.AIiV    ul-    THK    ARCIIIl-I.I.Ai 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  12  r 

you  please  to  lower  that  window  ?  It  is  disquieting  a  sick  lady  back  here  ver>^  much."' 
He  turned  around  and  said,  "  No."  I  do  not  know  who  the  man  was,  or  who  imported  his 
patent  leathers,  or  how  bright  the  diamonds  may  have  flashed  in  his  cravat ;  he  was  not  a 
gentleman — never  will  be.  You  cannot  make  them  out  of  such  stuff.  So  I  was  in  a  boat 
going  from  Brooklyn  to  New  York.  A  boy  came  in  with  almanacs  for  sale.  With  one 
hand  he  offered  the  almanacs.  His  other  hand  was  all  bound  up  and  bandaged.  It  looked 
as  if  a  surgeon  had  bound  it  up.  A  man  seated  ne.xt  to  me  said,  "  Boy,  what  is  the  matter 
with  your  hand  ?"  The  boy  said,  "  I  got  it  crushed,  and  the  doctor  bound  it  up."  The 
man  said,  "  Let  me  see  it."  The  boy  went  to  work  and  unwound  it.  It  was  an  awful 
looking  hand.  Nobody  would  want  to  see  it  unless  he  could  do  it  some  good.  After  he 
got  it  all  unwound,  the  man  seated  next  to  me  said,  "  Now  wind  it  up,  wind  it  up  ;  I  have 
nothing  for  such  fellows  as  you."  I  could  not  restrain  my  indignation.  I  said  to  him, 
"  Sir,  that  boy  is  engaged  in  a  legitimate  business.  He  is  selling  almanacs  for  a  living,  and 
you  have  no  right  to  accost  him  in  that  way."  I  felt  in  my  pockets  for  the  loose  change, 
and  all  the  people  in  the  boat  seemed  to  hear  the  conversation,  and  thev  felt  in  their 
pockets  for  the  loose  change,  and  I  think  from  the  looks  the  boy  carried  off  two  or  three 
dollars.  I  do  not  know  who  that  man  was  ;  he  was  far  better  dressed  than  I ;  but  this  I  do 
know  in  regard  to  him,  he  was  not  a  gentleman — never  will  be.  He  was  one  of  those 
mean  kind  of  men  you  sometimes  find — mean  all  the  way  down,  and  all  the  way  up,  and 
all  the  way  through,  forward  and  backward,  backward  and  forward.  Mean  as  the  man  who 
was  asked  by  his  friend  if  he  would  not  take  a  drink.  He  said,  "  No,  I  never  drink  ;  but 
I'll  take  a  cigar  and  three  cents."  A  man  of  good  manners  has  a  faculty  of  always  making 
you  feel  good.  Some  day  you  have  been  soured  by  meanness  on  the  part  of  a  customer,  or 
yon  have  met  with  a  business  loss,  or  you  have  heard  that  hard  things  have  been  said  about 
you.  You  feel  irritated.  You  feel  as  if  }ou  could  snap  at  the  first  man  that  speaks  to  you. 
In  a  word,  you  are  unhappy.  One  of  your  bright-faced,  generous  friends  comes  in,  and 
says,  "Good  morning,"  in  a  pleasant  tone.  You  respond  in  gruffest,  "Good  morning." 
He  says,  "  I  hear  good  news  about  you.  I  hear  you  are  prospering  in  business.  I  came  in 
more  to  congratulate  you  than  anything  else.  I  haven't  any  especial  business,  but  must  be 
going.  Give  my  regards  to  your  wife.  Good  morning."  You  respond  in  blandest  tones, 
"  Good  morning."  He  was  there  only  half  a  minute,  but  he  has  left  you  saturated  with, 
good  humor.  In  other  words,  you  have  felt  the  generous  touch  of  a  generous  nature.  In 
other  words,  he  is  a  gentleman. 

Again  you  felt  just  the  opposite.  You  got  up  with  the  sun,  sang  at  the  breakfast 
table,  whistled  all  the  way  to  business,  when  an  ill-mannered  acquaintance  comes  in.  He 
says,  "Are  you  at  all  embarrassed  in  business?"  You  sav,  "No,  why  do  you  ask  that?" 
"  Oh,"  he  says,  "  nothing,  nothing."  "  But,"  you  say,  "  there  must  have  been  some  reason 
for  asking  that,  or  you  wouldn't  have  asked  it."  "  Well,"  he  says,  "  if  you  will  have  it,  I 
heard  on  the  street  that  you  are  going  to  burst  up.  How  is  that  ?  "  You  go  down  the  street 
vexed  and  enraged,  to  lash  this  man  with  your  tongue,  and  question  that,  until  you  are 
worked  up  into  a  fury,  and  the  pickpocket  who  stole  your  purse  was  more  of  a  gentleman 
than  this  man  who  stole  vour  good  humor.  You  sometimes  find  a  person  in  a  community 
without  any  particular  attribute  of  wit  or  humor,  yet  by  kindliness  of  spirit,  genial  behavior, 
looking  on  the  bright  side  of  things,  trying  to  get  others  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of 
things,  keeping  a  whole  drawing-room,  aye,  a  Avhole  neighborhood  in  good  cheer.  Just  as 
in  early  spring  you  go  into  the  garden  and  you  say,  "  Where  is  that  flower?  "  "  Oh,  here  it  is, 
a  violet !  "  considering  itself  no  doubt  a  very  insignificant  flower,  yet  filling  the  whole  yard 


122 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


with  fragrance  ;  so  there  are  persons  who  consider  themselves  perfectly  insignificant,  yet  by 
the  aroma  of  a  Christian  character  and  geniality  of  behavior  keep  all  their  surroundings 
happy.  There  is  no  more  winsome  art  than  that  of  saying  pleasant  things  in  a  pleasant 
way,  and  no  more  distasteful  and  offensive  character  than  that  which  always  has  something 
nettlesome  to  mention.  One  spring  morning  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  cars,  going  through 
the  New  York  market,  and  was  in  a  good  deal  of  a  hurry,  but  I  heard  one  boy  say  to 
another,  "Joe,  you  will  lose  on  them  green  peas."  Although  I  was  in  a  hurry  I  had  to  stop. 
I  said  to  him,  "  How  do  you  know  he  will  lose  on  them  green  peas  ?  From  the  looks  of 
the  boy  and   the  looks  of  the  peas  I  don't  think   he  is  going  to  lose  on  them."       Now,  my 

I 


BANANA    GROVE    IN    FIJI    ISLAND. 

friends,  if  that  boy  was  going  to  lose  on  "  them  green  peas,"  would  he  not  find  it  out  soon 
enough?  I  never  would  take  the  responsibility  of  telling  any  man  or  any  boy  that  he  was 
going  to  lose  "on  them  green  peas."  The  fact  is,  .some  people  are  miserable  themselves, 
and  they  want  to  make  everybody  else  miserable.  Indeed,  there  are  some  people  who  are 
not  happy  unless  they  are  miserable  !  They  have  a  kind  of  miserable  happiness,  or  a  happy 
miserableness.  I  do  not  exactly  know  what  it  is.  If  there  is  one  lank  sheep  in  the  pasture 
field  all  the  crows  within  ten  miles  know  it,  and  are  ready  to  sit  \r\  post-mortem  examination 
when  the  carcase  drops.  And  there  are  some  men  who  have  a  faculty  for  finding  out 
everything  that  is  weak  in  character,  and  are  watching  to  see  if  it  will  not  become  carrion. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  123 

They  say  unpleasant  tilings  about  >our  walk,  about  }-our  clothes,  about  \our  friends,  about 
your  church,  about  your  club-rooui.  If  they  find  a  half  dozen  people  engaged  in  pleasant 
chat  they  are  sure  to  break  in  upon  them  with  some  disagreeable  subject.  If  )-our  father 
was  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  been  hung,  they  will  persist  in  discussing  with  you  capital 
punishment,  or  go  dragging  a  long  rope  through  the  room.  If  you  failed  in  business,  they  will 
make  cutting  remarks  about  bankruptcy  lawf  and  two-thirds  enactments.  They  have  always 
heard  something  unpleasant  about  you,  and  feel  it  their  duty  just  to  let  you  know  all  about 
it.  They  go  through  the  world  fulfilling  what  the  Good  Book  sa\s  when  it  calls  them 
"  whisperers."  They  go  all  through  community  whispering  and  whispering,  and  that  is  all 
they  are  good  for.  They  always  have  suspicions  about  your  health,  and  sometimes  when  you 
feel  a  little  weary,  they  accost  you  with,  "  Why,  how  bad  you  do  look  !  "  I  had  a  brother  who 
was  going  through  one  of  the  back  streets  of  Brooklyn  one  day,  when  a  man  came  up  to 
him  and  said,  "  Are  vou  the  man  on  this  street  that  is  dying  with  consumption  ?  "  My 
brother  said,  "  Xo,  I  guess  there  is  nothing  the  matter  with  me."  "Well,"  said  the  man, 
*'  I  was  looking  for  a  man  on  this  street  who  is  dying  with  consumption,  and  I  thought  from 
your  looks  that  vou  must  be  the  man."  "  No,"  said  my  brother,  "  I  am  a  minister  and  I 
stay  in  the  house  a  good  deal,  and  I  suppose  it  makes  me  look  a  little  pale,  and  I  have  been 
a  minister  for  about  fifteen  years,  and  I  suppose  that  during  that  time  I  have  buried  about 
fifty  fat-looking  fellows  just  like  you."  Sometimes  it  is  not  so  much  in  words  that  they 
offend  as  in  their  way  of  doing  things.  For  a  good,  hearty,  natural  eccentricity  we  have 
no  dislike.  What  a  stupid  world  this  would  be  if  all  the  people  were  alike.  God  never 
repeats  Himself,  and  He  never  intended  two  men  to  be  alike,  or  two  women  to  be  alike,  or 
two  children  to  be  alike.  Our  peculiarities  are  the  cogs  of  the  wheel  showing  where  we 
are  to  play  in  the  great  divine  mechanism.  God  makes  us  all  differently,  but  society  comes 
along  with  its  conventionalities  and  tries  to  make  us  all  alike,  and  in  proportion  as  it 
makes  us  all  alike,  makes  us  useless.  Everybody  excused  Horace  Greeley's  peculiar  garb, 
and  Rev.  Dr.  IMcClellan,  of  the  Reformed  Church,  one  of  the  mightiest  men  of  this  centun,-, 
who  used  to  put  his  shoes  under  the  pulpit  sofa,  and  then  preach  in  his  stocking  feet. 
Once  while  I  was  riding  with  him,  my  father  having  sent  me  down  to  bring  the  doctor  to  the 
village  to  preach,  and  I  was  the  boy  driving,  and  we  had  a  very  lazy  horse,  and  I  was  losing 
all  my  patience  on  the  lazy  horse,  instead  of  sympathizing  with  me,  the  doctor  would  get  up 
in  the  back  part  of  the  wagon  and  quote  Greek  epigrams,  and  then  cry  out  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  "  A  horse,  a  horse,  my  kingdom  for  a  horse !  "  Now,  I  like  to  hear  Shakespeare 
quoted  as  well  as  anybody,  but  not  under  such  embarrassing  circumstances.  Still  I  excused 
him.  I  said,  that  is  a  little  peculiar,  that  is  all.  Men  often  have  harmless  eccentricities,  but 
there  are  oddities  that  are  criminal,  for  the  reason  that  they  make  inroads  upon  the  happiness 
of  others.  If  duty  demand  that  we  go  straight  across  the  wishes  of  others,  then  we  must  go 
straight  across  them.  We  despise  a  man  who  always  waits  to  hear  what  other  people  say 
before  he  sa>'S  anything.  But  the  most  vigorous  and  energetic  means  may  often  be  conducted 
with  gentleness.  Luther's  energy  would  have  been  mightily  helped  by  Melanchthon's 
suavity.  A  June  morning  wnll  bring  out  more  flowers  than  all  the  blustering  Januarys  ever 
created.  Society  will  bear  anything  sooner  than  a  bear.  In  a  former  pastoral  charge  there 
was  in  attendance  upon  my  ministry  a  ver>-  good  man  who  had  one  or  two  offensive 
peculiarities.  When  the  church  was  particularly  silent  and  solemn,  he  would  give  one  of 
those  awful  sneezes  that  you  sometimes  may  have  heard  that  seem  as  if  the  very  foundations 
of  the  earth  were  being  ripped  out.  Now,  man  has  certain  inalienable  rights,  among 
which  are  life,  liberty  and  the  privilege  of  sneezing  when  he  feels  like  it.     Indeed,  when 


124 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


one  feels  a  peculiar  irritation  in  the  inner  membrane  of  the  nose  that  disposes  him  to  a 
convulsive  ejection  of  air  through  the  nose,  I  consider  it  his  positive  and  bounden  duty  to 
sneeze  ;  but  I  set  it  down  to  the  score  of  bad  manners  that  the  man  of  whom  I  speak 
would  so  often  in  the  most  solemn  parts  of  the  discourse  take  out  his  handkerchief,  make 
up  a  peculiar  face  and  sneeze.  Oh,  how  important  it  is  that  parents  should  educate  their 
children  in  good  manners.  How  much  chagrin  they  would  save  themselves  and  their 
children.  General  Scott  was  visiting  at  a  friend's  house  in  New  York.  The  gentleman  of 
the  house  wanted  his  son  to  be  acquainted  with  General  Scott.  He  said,  "  Here,  George, 
this  is  General  Scott."  George  was  one  of  those  saucy,  uncontrollable  sort  of  boys  you 
sometimes  find,  and  he  came  up  and  said,  "  Are  you  General  Scott?"     "  Yes,  I  am  General 


NEW   ZEALAND    SCENERY. 

Scott."  "  Are  you  the  General  Scott  that  was  at  Lundy's  Lane  ?  "  "  Yes,  I  was  at  Lundy's 
Lane."  "Are  you  the  General  Scott  that  was  in  Mexico?"  "  Yes,  I  was  in  Mexico." 
"  Are  you  the  General  Scott  that  ran  for  the  Presidency,  and  got  licked?"  "  Yes,"  said  he,, 
"  I  ran  for  the  Presidenc\-,  but  did  not  get  in."  "  Are  you  the  General  Scott  that  they  call 
'  Old  Fuss  and  Feathers  ?  '  "  Then  the  father  said,  "  Get  out  of  the  room,  George,  I  will 
not  have  General  Scott  insulted  in  that  way."  You  and  I  have  seen  the  same  thing  on  a 
smaller  scale  many  and  many  a  time.  No  one  is  well  behaved  who  has  no  regard  for  times 
and  circumstances.  While  we  have  no  respect  for  one  of  those  obsequious  mortals  whom 
we  call  the  fop  or  the  dandy — all  curls  and  watch-chain  jingle  and  squirm  and  strut  and 
pocket  handkerchief  and  ah's  and  oh's  and  he-he-he's,  and  wriggle  and  namby-pamb>-ism 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY.  125 

— we  have  just  as  little  regard  for  him  who  through  recklessuess  of  demeanor  breaks 
through  all  the  proprieties  of  life  as  a  drove  of  swine  break  through  a  blossoming  hedge 
that  surrounds  a  flower  garden.  Let  two  young  men  go  out  into  the  world,  one  with 
$20,000  of  capital  to  start  with,  but  bad  manners,  and  the  other  with  no  capital  at  all  but  good 
manners,  and  the  latter  will  surpass  the  former  in  all  the  great  struggles  of  life.  Every- 
man that  has  come  to  any  years  knows  that  is  so,  yet  the  general  impression  is,  if  a  man  be 
urbane  and  courteous  he  is  weak.  They  say  he  is  very  polite,  but  he  is  soft.  I  had  a  friend 
who  many  years  ago  was  visiting  in  the  city  of  Washington.  He  was  in  the  ofEce  of  a 
Senator  distinguished  for  great  statesmanship,  but  for  no  politeness.  The  young  man  who 
had  come  to  Washington  and  wanted  to  see  the  distinguished  men  of  the  day,  knocked  at 
the  Senator's  door.  The  Senator  in  a  gruff  voice  shouted,  "  Come  in."  The  young  man 
entered,  and  as  he  had  not  any  especial  errand,  but  only  wished  to  see  the  distinguished 
o-entleman,  he  felt  a  little  awkward  and  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  his  hands.  The 
Senator  said  to  him,  "  What  do  yon  want,  sir  ?  "  He  said,  "  Well, — I— well, — I  don't  know 
— nothing."  The  Senator  then  said,  "  Then  get  out  of  the  room.  Why  do  you  come  here 
to  bother  me,  if  you  don't  want  anything  ? "  My  friend  was  afterward  in  the  room  of 
Heur>-  Clay,  and  a  young  man,  who  had  come  to  Washington  and  wanted  to  see  the 
distinguished  men  of  the  day,  knocked  at  Mr.  Clay's  door.  Mr.  Clay  said,  "  Come  in." 
The  young  man  entered.  Mr.  Clay  by  one  flash  of  gentlemanly  instinct,  knew  what  the 
young  man  wanted,  advanced  and  gave  him  his  hand  and  said,  "  Good  morning,  sir.  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  you.  Walk  in.  I  am  very  busy  now  with  these  papers,  but  here  are  some  books 
and  pictures  and  curiosities,  and  I  hope  you  will  make  yourself  very  much  at  home."  My 
friend  said  the  young  man  seemed  as  much  at  home  as  though  he  were  in  his  father's  house. 
And  vet  it  was  no  evidence  of  weakness  or  effeminacy  on  the  part  of  that  man,  for  when  a 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives — that  difficult  position,  held  successfully  only  by 
three  or  four  men  since  the  foundation  of  the  American  government,  and  where  the  most 
vigorous  pounding  of  the  gavel  on  the  desk  could  not  keep  order — it  w-as  said  that  when 
Mr.  Clay  was  presiding  and  there  was  any  uproar  in  the  House,  he  never  pounded  with  the 
gavel  at  all,  but  would  take  a  penknife  from  his  pocket  and  tap  upon  the  desk.  Those  who 
were  talking  hushed  up.  Those  who  were  standing  sat  down.  Onl\-  a  penknife,  but  it 
sounded  like  a  thunderbolt.  So  you  see  that  politeness  and  suavity  are  no  indication  of 
weakness  or  effeminacy  on  the  part  of  a  man.  A  man  may  be  courteous  and  urbane  and 
yet  strong  for  the  great  battle  of  life.     Hear  it,  young  man,  hear  it. 

We  pass  on  in  this  gallery  of  disagreeable  people  to  see  the  lounger — the  man  who 
always  comes  at  the  wrong  time,  and  stays  until  you  are  exhausted.  We  say  of  such  a 
one,  "  He  is  a  perfect  bore."  You  have  all,  in  your  different  occupations  and  professions, 
been  disturbed  by  this  class  of  persons.  I  know  of  no  greater  joy  in  life  than  that  of 
entertaining  our  friends  when  they  come  to  see  us.  We  rush  out  into  the  hall  to  meet 
them.  .\  pain  strikes  us  to  the  heart  when  they  lea\-e  us.  We  give  them  the  best  arm- 
chair in  our  parlor.  We  give  them  the  softest  bed  in  our  house.  We  deny  ourselves  many 
luxuries  when  we  are  alone  that  when  they  come  we  may  have  more  wherewith  to  make 
them  comfortable  and  happy.  We  always  live  better  when  we  have  company.  Yet  there 
are  persons  who  are  always  apologizing  when  you  are  at  their  table— apologizing  for  the 
bread  and  the  butter  and  the  tea,  and  trying  to  give  you  the  idea  that  they  always  have  it 
better  than  just  at  that  time  when  you  happen  to  be  there.  Now,  what  is  the  use  of  lying  ? 
Perhaps  it  is  winter,  and  one  of  our  old  school-mates  or  college-mates  has  come.  We  pull 
up  our  chairs  around  the  stove  or  register,  and  in  true  American  style  put  our  feet  up  higher 


(IJhl 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  127 

than  our  heads  so  that  all  the  sensibilities  and  excellencies  of  our  entire  physical  nature 
seem,  by  the  greater  elevation  of  our  feet,  to  flow  back  into  the  heart  and  the  brain.  We 
talk  over  old  times,  sleigh  rides,  skatings  under  moonlight,  romantic  rambles  tlirough  the 
woods  on  a  summer  day  with  some  fair,  rosy-cheeked,  laughing-eyed — second  cousin. 
We  talk  it  all  over.  The  fire  burns  and  the  midnight  hovers.  You  talk  over  the  past,  and 
laugh  and  cry  until  you  are  startled  as  the  clock  strikes,  "  One — two,"  and  you  go  to  bed 
humming  to  yourself, 

"  Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot 
.\nd  never  brought  to  tnin'  ? 
Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 
And  days  of  auld  lang  syne  ?" 

But  are  there  no  persons  in  this  community  who  have  pestered  ^-ou,  as  follows?  They 
have  nothing  to  do,  and  suppose  that  you  have  not.  They  come  and  sit  all  around  the 
room.  They  have  nothing  to  say,  but  expect  you  to  entertain  them.  They  take  out  their 
watch  and  say,  "Well,  I  guess  I  must  go."  You,  out  of  politeness,  say,  "You  need  not  be 
in  a  hurry,"  when,  to  your  horror,  they  sag  back  for  another  two  hours'  heat.  They  discuss 
the  weather.  They  tell  you  some  old  story  in  a  very  feeble  way  and  expect  you  to  laugh. 
They  sit,  and  you  look  at  your  watch  hoping  they  will  take  the  hint ;  but  they  sit.  You 
go  and  take  another  chair,  hoping  to  break  up  the  monotony  ;  but  they  sit.  You  keep 
drumming  your  fingers  nervously  on  the  table,  or  tapping  your  foot  on  the  floor,  trying  to 
fill  up  the  time  ;  but  they  sit.  You  get  desperate,  and  feel  as  if  you  could  fly.  They  do  not 
observe  it.  When  your  time  is  utterly  exhausted,  and  the  idea  you  wanted  to  put  upon 
paper  has  flown,  and  it  is  too  late  to  do  the  work  you  proposed,  he  gets  up  slowly,  takes  a 
great  while  to  button  his  coat,  moves  out  of  the  room  at  a  snail's  pace,  keeps  you  standing 
at  the  front  door  long  enough  to  take  a  bad  cold,  and  then  goes  down  the  road  to  practice 
his  outrages  upon  somebody  else.  Compared  with  such  annoyance,  bles.sed  is  seasickness, 
blessed  is  gout,  blessed  is  the  influenza,  blessed  are  mosquitoes  and  fleas  and  bumblebees 
and  grandfather-long-legs,  blessed  all  cutaneous  irritations,  blessed  the  hot  nights  when  you 
cannot  sleep — blessed  everything.  When  I  see  one  of  those  bores  coming  down  the  street, 
I  cross  over  or  go  clear  around  the  block.  I  think  one  of  the  greatest  bores  in  all  the 
world  is  the  speaking  bore — the  man  who,  at  the  Sunday-school  meeting,  or  the  church 
meeting,  or  the  educational  meeting,  or  the  political  meeting,  always  has  the  floor.  He 
must  speak  or  burst.  He  has  an  example ;  he  has  a  precedent  for  speaking.  Balaam's 
traveling  companion  spoke,  so  he  must  speak.  One  of  this  sort  arose  in  a  legislature  where 
some  educational  question  was  before  the  Hon.se,  and  said,  "  ]\Ir.  Chairman,  I  go  in  for 
eddication.  In  the  words  of  the  eminent  Shakespeare,  as  he  fell  mortally  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  '  Ignorance  is  played  out.  E  pluribus  unum !  Hie,  haec,  hoc ! 
Suavter  in  modo.'  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  sorry  to  see  }ou  smile  at  that  word  '  E  pluribus 
unum,'  for  that  was  the  sacred  name  of  George  W^ashington's  mother.  If  it  hadn't  been 
for  Providence,  eddication  and  two  or  three  other  gentlemen,  I  should  have  been  as  ignorant 
as  you  are  !"  How  many  meetings  have  been  talked  to  death  by  the  speaking  bore.  I  have 
seen  Sunday  Schools  go  right  down  under  the  process.     They  hardly  ever  breathed  again. 

We  pass  on  in  this  portrait  gallery  and  stand  before  the  man  perpetually  despondent 
and  lachrymose,  or,  to  use  the  common  phrase,  the  man  who  always  has  the  blues,  always 
sees  the  dark  side  of  things.  There  is  no  exemption  from  misfortune.  The  great  and  wise 
all  had  their  share.  Samuel  Boyse,  the  accomplished  author,  was  found  famished  with  a 
pen  in  his  hand.      Richard   Savage  died  in  a  prison  for  a  debt  of  eight  poimds.     The  poet 


128  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

Crabbe  walked  all  night  on  Westminster  Bridge,  because  too  poor  to  pay  for  a  lodging. 
Homer,  it  is  said,  had  his  mouth  oftener  filled  with  verses  than  with  bread.  Fielding,  who 
tickled  the  world's  fancy  with  the  story  of  Tom  Jones,  was  buried  among  paupers  at  Lisbon 
without  a  stone  to  mark  his  grave.  Butler,  after  throwing  the  world  into  fits  of  laughter 
with  Hudibras,  starved  to  death  for  lack  of  a  crust.  Tasso,  in  a  sonnet,  begs  the  light  of 
a  cat's  eye  that  he  may  see  to  write,  because  he  cannot  afford  a  candle.  The  greatest 
of  Italian  comedians  is  refused  admittance  into  the  hospital,  that  in  better  days  he  had 
built  with  mone}-  from  his  own  pocket.  John  Wesley  got  pelted  with  stones.  Milton  was 
blind.  Young's  "Night  Thoughts"  were  the  cypress  that  grew  on  the  grave  of  his 
darling  child.  And  there  is  not  in  all  this  house  an  eye  that  has  never  wept,  or  a  heart 
that  has  never  been  broken.  But  there  are  alleviations  in  every  trouble,  and  paradoxical 
as  it  jnay  seem,  I  think  that  the  people  who  have  had  the  most  trouble  are  the  happiest. 
The  vast  majority  of  those  who  go  howling  on  their  way,  have  comparatively  little  to  vex 
them.  We  excuse  a  man  for  occasional  depression  just  as  we  endure  a  rainy  day.  With 
•overshoes  and  umbrella  v/e  go  cheerfully  through  the  storm,  because  we  know  that  soon  the 
heavens  will  shatter  into  sunshine.  But  who  could  endure  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
•days  of  cold  drizzle  ?  Yet  there  are  men  who  are  without  cessation,  sombre  and  charged 
with  evil  prognostications.  They  do  not  realize  their  position.  They  are  like  the  snake 
that  the  Irishman  killed.  He  killed  the  snake,  but  it  would  keep  on  wagging  its  tail  until 
the  sun  went  down.  So  he  kept  on  killing  it,  and  a  neighbor  came  up  and  said,  "  Patrick, 
■what  do  }ou  keep  killing  that  snake  for?  It  has  been  dead  ever  so  long."  Patrick 
answered,  "  Yes,  I  know  it  is  dead,  but  the  crayther  isn't  sinsible  of  it."  We  may  be  born 
with  a  foreboding  and  melancholy  temperament,  but  that  is  no  excuse  why  we  should  yield 
to  it  any  more  than  a  man  born  with  a  revengeful  spirit  should  yield  to  that.  We  often 
hear  people  sa}',  "  Oh,  I  have  a  bad  temper  naturally,  and  I  am  not  responsible."  You  are 
responsible.  By  the  grace  of  God,  you  can  have  your  temper  changed.  There  is  a  way  of 
shuffling  the  burden  from  shoulder  to  shoulder.  In  the  lottery  of  life  there  are  more  prizes 
•drawn  than  blanks.  Whole  orchards  of  "  fall  pippins"  to  one  tree  of  crab  apples.  But 
•one  unfortunate  pair  of  Siamese  twins  to  millions  of  people  happily  born.  To  one  misfor- 
tune fifty  advantages.  How  important  it  is  that  parents  who  would  have  their  children 
-come  up  good  and  Christian,  should  teach  them  that  religion  itself  instead  of  being  a 
gloomy,  doleful  thing,  is  really  the  brightest,  the  most  radiant,  the  most  jubilant,  the  most 
triumphant  thing  that  ever  came  down  from  heaven.  Sunday  morning  comes  in  a  house- 
hold. The  father  comes  from  his  room  to  the  room  in  which  the  children  are,  and  he 
■says,  "  Hush  !  Throw  out  those  flowers.  Close  that  melodeon.  The  children  will  get  down 
'  Owen  on  Spiritual  Mindedness,'  and  '  Edwards'  on  the  Affections,'  and  '  Boston's  Four- 
fold State,'  and  we  will  have  an  awful  time.  It  is  Sunday !"  Sunday  comes  in  another 
household,  and  the  father  comes  from  his  room  to  the  room  where  his  children  are,  and  he 
says,  "Come,  children,  this  is  the  best  day  and  the  happiest  day  of  all  the  week.  Throw 
back  the  shutters  and  let  the  sun  in.  Jennie  will  sit  down  at  the  melodeon  or  the  piano, 
and  get  ready  to  play,  while  the  other  children  get  down  the  hymn-books,  and  prepare  to 
sing  '  Shining  Shore,'  and  '  Rest  for  the  Weary,'  and  '  Hallelujah,  'tis  done,'  as  soon  as  I 
have  read  this  Psalm  of  David,  '  Praise  the  Lord,  mountains  and  all  hills,  fruitful  trees  and 
all  cedars,  beasts  and  all  cattle,  creeping  things  and  flying  fowl,  let  everything   that  hath 

breath  praise  the  Lord.'  " 

"The  Hill  of  Zion  yields, 

A  thousand  sacred  sweets, 
Before  we  reach  the  heavenly  fields 

Or  walk  the  golden  streets." 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  129 

"  Sing!  while  I  beat  time  for  you."  And  let  me  say  that  a  man  who  can  sing  and  won't 
sing  deserves  to  be  sent  to  Sing-sing.  Despondency  is  the  most  unprofitable  feeling  a  man 
can  have.  Hyacinth  is  the  only  flower  that  I  know  of  that  will  start  best  in  a  dark  cellar. 
Ten  raw  cloud)-  days  may  pass  along  a  garden  without  winning  a  smile  from  a  single 
flower  ;  but  no  sooner  does  the  sun  look  out  than  hundreds  of  carnation  roses  put  up  their 
lips  to  be  kissed,  and  blush  clear  down  to  their  shoulders.  Good  cheer  divides  our  burdens 
and  carries  three-fourths  of  them.  We  all  cry  enough,  God  knows.  We  all  cr>'  enough 
and  have  enough  to  cry  about,  and  if  we  could  not  sometimes  be  let  up  from  the  struggle 
of  life,  I  do  not  know  what  would  become  of  us.  One  good  hearty  laugh  is  a  bombshell 
exploding  in  the  right  place,  while  spleen  and  discontent  are  a  gun  that  kicks  over  the 
man  that  shoots  it  off.  There  is  hardly  anything  impossible  to  the  man  who  expects  to 
succeed.  Lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  health  often  results  in  depression  of 
spirits.  I  have  known  people  who  for  years  have  not  experienced  buoyancy  of  feeling, 
simply  because  they  always  take  a  late  supper.  Tell  me  what  a  man  eats,  when  he  eats, 
and  how  long  it  takes  him  to  eat,  and  I  will  tell  you  his  disposition,  and  out  of  a  thousand 
cases  I  will  not  make  one  mistake.  A  man  will  go  to  the  store  in  the  morning  and  find 
business  matters  all  complicated.  He  cannot  see  how  he  is  going  to  raise  the  money  to 
meet  those  notes,  and  fears  that  everything  is  going  to  ruin.  He  feels  like  the  man  who 
was  going  up  Broadway,  New  York,  in  the  midst  of  the  financial  panic  of  1857.  He  had 
a  note  in  the  bank,  and  no  money  to  meet  the  note.  It  was  five  minutes  of  three  o'clock, 
and  the  bank  to  close  at  three.  All  absorbed  about  that  note  in  the  bank  and  no  money  to 
pay  it,  in  his  haste  he  ran  against  a  man,  and  the  man  cried  out,  "  Who  are  you  running 
against?  Do  that  again,  and  I  will  knock  yon  into  the  middle  of  next  week."  He  replied, 
"  I  wish  you  would.  That's  just  where  I  want  to  be  with  my  note."  So  everything  in  the 
case  I  am  speaking  of  may  seem  to  be  foreboding,  when  the  fact  is  that  business  matters 
are  not  at  all  desperate.  What  is  the  matter?  Has  some  evil  spirit  during  the  night 
entered  the  store  and  robbed  the  safe,  and  changed  the  figures  in  the  account  book,  and 
stirred  everything  into  disorder?  No.  This  is  the  secret.  Last  night  at  eleven  o'clock,  at 
a  friend's  hou.se,  he  took  lobsters.  He  didn't  get  his  usual  refreshment  in  sleep.  In  his 
dream  he  saw  his  grandmother  and  two  or  three  great-aunts  in  coal-scuttle  bonnets.  The 
nightmare  first  balked  and  then  ran  away  with  him.  Lack  of  exercise  is  a  source  of 
depression.  Without  exercise,  the  fluids  of  the  bod>-  cannot  be  rightly  prepared  nor  the 
solids  become  strong  and  firm.  There  is  an  idea  abroad  that  exercise  is  important  only  for 
the  student.  That  is  a  mistake.  The  merchant  needs  it ;  the  mechanic  needs  it ;  the 
housewife  needs  it.  You  may  work  day  after  day  to  perfect  fatigue,  but  that  is  not 
exercise.  You  need  a  change  from  the  routine  of  life.  The  amount  of  money  and  time 
expended  in  reasonable  recreation  would  be  a  profitable  investment.  You  would  add  ten 
years  to  your  life,  and  in  business  you  would  in  the  course  of  the  year  sell  more  goods, 
make  more  garments,  fashion  more  chairs,  build  more  houses,  make  more  boots,  roof 
more  buildings,  shoe  more  horses,  grind  more  corn.  The  attention  of  the  world  is  being 
drawn  to  this  subject. 

Gymnasiums  have  been  established  in  all  our  towns  and  cities.  I  am  glad  to  know 
that  this  institution  is  becoming  better  understood.  The  gymnasium  was  formerly  looked 
upon  as  a  place  where  pugilists  went  to  get  muscle — a  college  to  graduate  Heenans.  Now, 
in  all  our  gymnasiums  you  find  the  first  merchants,  physicians,  mechanics,  clergymen.  Men 
of  science  swinging  dumb-bells.  Millionaires  turning  somersaults.  Lawyers  upside  down 
hanging  by  one  foot  from  the  rung  of  a  ladder.  The  doctor  of  divinity  with  coat  off  striking 
9 


PUDI.IC    liril.UIN(,S    IN    SVDNl-;\     WHICH    bl.  l;l  KIM   1'    i.^    WllH    Till. IK    Airi;\i 


(130) 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  131 

out  from  the  shoulder  against  a  "punching  bag,"  imagining  how  it  would  be  if  it  were 
a  controversial  fight,  and  the  bag  getting  punched  were  an  opposing  bishop.  Rheumatics 
and  neuralgias  and  kindred  diseases  hung  up  until  dead  on  "  parallel  bars  "  like  two  rows 
of  anny  deserters.  Dyspepsia  climbing  out  of  sight  on  a  rope  ladder.  Old  age  dancing 
itself  young  again  on  a  "spring-board."  Gout,  erysipelas,  dropsies  and  consumptions  on  a 
"  wooden  horse,"  riding  out  of  remembrance.  As  a  preventive  and  corrective  of  disease 
and  the  consequent  mental  depression,  I  recommend  the  gymnasium  in  many  cases  as  better 
than  all"  Plantation  Bitters,"  and  pain-killers,  and  elixirs,  and  panaceas,  and  cataplasms,  and 
S.  T.  X.'s,  and  U.  Y.  G.'s  and  all  the  other  board  fence  literature  of  the  country.  But  those 
who  can  get  into  the  country  and  have  the  time  and  the  means,  will  find  the  open  air  the 
best  of  all  gymnasiums.  God  built  it  and  hoisted  into  its  dome  more  glor^-  than  can  be 
crowded  into  a  thousand  St.  Peters.  The  steep  hillside  is  the  best  ladder  to  run  up. 
Forests  tossing  in  the  wind  are  the  best  boxing  school.  Do  you  own  a  horse  ?  Have  him 
well  groomed  until  every  hair  glistens  and  the  long  mane  ripples  over  his  neck,  and  from 
nostrils  down  over  the  haunches  unto  the  fetlock  ;  be  he  bay,  black,  dun,  chestnut  or  sorrel, 
there  is  nothing  wanting.  Have  him  brought  out.  Put  the  bucket  to  his  mouth  and  hear 
the  water  rattle  down  his  throat  in  great  swallows.  Give  him  a  gentle  patting  on  the 
shoulder,  call  him  by  a  pet  name,  and  then  putting  your  left  foot  into  the  stirrup,  vault 
into  the  saddle.  Now,  sail  ahead.  Let  him  leap,  and  prance,  and  champ  his  bit,  and  snort 
with  pride  as  he  careers  along  the  highway.  Your  blood  will  tingle.  You  will  feel  as  if 
you  were  flying.  Health  will  come  with  every  bounce.  Let  him  trot,  amble,  gallop  and 
his  hoofs  strike  fire.  Keep  a  stiff  rein,  pass  everything  on  the  turnpike,  and  with  the 
keenest  appetite  you  ever  had  come  to  supper.  There  is  something  wrong  in  that  man's 
heart  who  does  not  admire  a  horse.  William  HL,  Charles  II.,  George  I.  found  their  chief 
amusement  in  his  companionship,  and  the  man  who  will  abuse  a  horse — I  say  it  deliber- 
ately— a  man  who  will  abuse  a  horse  deserves  to  be  kicked  by  a  mule.  Do  vou  own  a  pair 
of  skates?  Wrap  yourself  warm,  start  for  the  pond,  sit  down  on  the  bank,  strap  on  the 
skates  so  that  they  can't  turn,  and  then  strike  out.  Carve  all  the  hieroglyphics  of  sport 
with  your  heel  on  the  ice.  W^heel  round  and  round,  now  on  one  foot,  now  on  the  other, 
backward,  forward,  like  a  swallow  skimming  a  brook,  like  a  deer  chased  across  the  snow  by 
tlie  Laplander,  swift  as  the  hare  with  lugs  flat  back  on  Marlborough  Downs,  as  an  antelope 
over  the  plain,  voices  calling,  pond  resounding,  steel  skates  ringing,  hands  clapping,  hills 
echoing.  Sportfulness  is  a  queen,  who  often  sits  in  a  palace  of  ice,  with  sceptre  of  icicle 
and  orchestra  in  which  northern  blasts  sound  their  horn,  and  such  come  nearest  her  throne 
who  approach  with  skater's  tippet  and  sandals  of  clattering  steel.  But  I  do  not  know  any 
army  of  horrors  that  can  withstand  an  attack  from  a  regiment  with  balls  and  bats.  From 
the  ball  that  the  boy  of  four  years  rolls  across  the  carpet  until  his  mother  catches  it,  to  that 
which  is  flung  up  by  the  muscular  arm  of  the  sportsman  in  the  sight  of  five  thousand  people 
come  out  in  the  suburbs  to  see  the  carnival,  there  is  something  bewitching  about  its  bounce 
and  flight.  Every  Roman  villa  had  its  place  for  this  exercise.  France  had  houses  built 
especially  for  ball  playing.  Henry  VII.  and  Maximilian  engaged  in  this  sport.  German 
professors,  weary  of  making  dictionaries,  come  out  to  join  in  it,  and  we  all  at  school  iised  to 
take  the  bat,  put  spittle  on  one  side  of  it,  and  then  throw  it  up  to  see  who  should  have  the 
first  stroke,  and  we  had  many  a  sharp  sting  from  the  ball  that  struck  us  before  we  got  to 
the  hunk. 

People  who  have  spent  fortunes  at  Saratoga  and   Sulphur  Springs  and  Baden-Baden 
to  get  away  from  bodily  disease,  and  came  home  unbenefited,  have  found  out  afterward 


132  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

that  their  aihneuts  were  unable  to  keep  up  with  them  in  their  swift  turns  at  cricket,  and 
the  invalids  in  attempting  to  catch  the  ball  have  actually  taken  their  lost  health  "on  the 
fly."     About   the  amusement  of   hunting   and   fishing,  let  me  say  that  you  have  no  right 
to  kill  any  game  that  you  do  not  expect  to  make  practical  use  of,  and  he  who  shoots  a  flock 
of  singing   birds  just  to  see   them   fall,  or   hooks  up   from  the  stream  a  fish  just  for  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  it  flop  on  the  grass,  is  a  barbarian.     But  rightly  carried  on  it  is  a  just  and 
invigorating  recreation.     The  best  men  have  found  health  and  exuberance  in  it.     Izaak 
Walton  reveled  in  the  sport.     And  I  suppose  that  .some  of  you  have  started  off"  with  pockets 
full  of  flies,  v/orms  and  grasshoppers  to  the  river,  flung  out  the  line,  sat  down  on  a  bridge 
^vith   vour   feet   hanging  over,  and   for  whole   hours   earnestly  and   patiently  waited   and 
watched,  motionless  and  with  your  whole  soul  in  your  face,for  some  shy,  obstinate  and  pro- 
voking fish  to  bite,  and  then  as  the  cork  began  to  wriggle,  you  got  up,  took  firm  hold  of  the 
tackle,  and  jerked  it  out,  to  find  that  you  had  caught  a  lamper  eel  or  snapping  turtle.     One 
of  the  excellencies  of  this  sport  is  that  for  the  time  it  takes  your  attention  away  from  the 
cares  of  life.     Once   I  went  out  with  some  gentlemen  to  encamp  for  summer  recreation 
among  the  Alleghany  mountains.     While  we  were  there  encamped  on  Saturday  morning  the 
clergyman  from  the  village  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  came  up  and  said  I  should  have  to 
preach  for  him  the  next  day.     So  Saturday  afternoon  I  went  out  to  catch  trout  and  to  catch 
a  sermon  at  the  same  time.     Well,  I  succeeded.     That  is,  I  caught  the  sermon,  but  I  did  not 
catch   the   trout,  although   I   came   four  or  five   times  very  near  it.     In   other  words,  you 
cannot  catch  trout  and  do  anything  else  at  the  same  time,  and  in  that  very  thing  consists 
the  excellency  of  the  recreation.     So  of  hunting.     I  have  seen   men  who  went   out  with 
colorless  cheek  and  heavy  heart,  come  home  in  a  perfect  glow,  bringing  a  brood  of  grouse, 
or  a  wisp  of  snipe,  or  a   covey  of  partridges.  Dash   and  Towser,  wet   and   panting  with 
tongue  out  from  answering  of  hunter's  halloo,  now  sprawling  themselves  on  the  doorstep. 
But  I  have  no  time  to  particularize.     For  mental  depression  I  commend  exercise  out  of 
doors,  if  possible,  if  not,  then  in   doors.     Whether   boat  or  skate  or  vehicle  or  saddle  or 
hook  or  gun  or  gymnasium,  let  your  sports  be  hearty,  free  from  dissipation,  conscientious 
and  Christian,  for  this  is  a  subject  we  will  have  to  meet  in  all  our  churches  >et.     We  keep 
telling  our  young  folks,  "  You  must  not  do  this,  and  >ou  must  not  do  that,  and  you  must  not 
do  the  other  thing."     We   shall  after  a  while  have  to  tell   them  something  they  may  do. 
A  religion  of  "  Don't "  is  a  verv  poor   religion.       The   only  way  we  will  ever  drive  bad 
amusements  out  of  this  world  is  by  introducing  good  ones.      And  you  will  come  back  to  shop 
and  counting  room  and  studio  and  pulpit  better  prepared  to  bargain,  to  construct,  to  pra>-,  to 
sing,  to  preach.     Remember  that  there  is  no  stock  that  pays  larger  dividend  than  a  cheerful 
spirit,  and  that  in  all  the  gallery  of  disagreeable  people  there  is  no  face  more  repulsive  than 
that  of  him  who  always  has  the  blues.     Remember  that  despondency  very  often  degenerates 
into  peevishness,  and  people  become  waspish,  or  to  use  the  more  familiar  word,  "  touclu'." 
My  father  once  got  cheated  in  a  bargain,  and  had  thrown  on  his  hands  one  ot  the  most 
outrageous  horses  that  I  ever  saw.     We  called  her  "  Killposy."     She  was  perfectly  gentle 
with  the  exception  that  she  would  balk  and  bite  and  kick  and  run  away.     If  her  hair  had 
not  all  stood  straight  up,  and  her  hip  bones  could  have  been  sunk  about  half  a  foot,  she 
would  have  been  handsome.     Now  that  horse  never  appreciated  the  kind  ofllices  of  a  groom. 
We,  the  bo>-s  in  the  country,  would  take  a  long  stick  and  fasten  it  to  the  end  of  a  curry 
comb  and  then  go  to  work  upon  her  obstinate  hide.     She  never  appreciated  it.     All  you 
had  to  do  was  just  to  open  the  door  and  make  a  motion  at  her  and  she  would  kick.     My 
father  after  a  while  gave  her  away.     It  was  the  only  time  he  ever  cheated  anybody.     In 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  133 

other  words,  she  was  "  touch>-,"  and  a  symbol  of  tliat  class  of  persons,  who,  having  sunk 
down  from  despondenc}-  into  peevishness,  cannot  be  approached  without  calling  forth 
demonstrations  of  irritability  and  displeasure.  Every  little  while  I  see  some  one  in  the 
community  about  whom  I  say,  "  There  goes  a  '  Killposy.'  "  In  this  large  class  of  despondent 
persons  I  must  place  all  political  h)-pochondriacs  whether  in  my  countr}-  or  in  yours. 
They  are  not  peculiar  to  any  part>-,  but  are  to  be  found  in  all  parties.  1  mean  the  men  who 
think  everything  is  going  to  ruin.  They  always  have  thought  so,  think  so  now,  always 
will  think  so.  If  my  country  is  going  to  ruin  it  goes  very  slowl}-.  Without  treading  on  any 
man's  political  affinities  I  could  in  a  few  minutes  show  the  folly  of  ever  having  the  blues 
about  your  country  or  mine.  Our  future  is  not  dependent  upon  the  success  of  this  or  that 
partisan  organization,  but  upon  the  Almighty  Arm  of  God  that  will  clear  the  way  before  us. 
We  want  no  bigotr}-  in  Church  or  State.  When  the  time  comes  in  my  countrv  that  free 
discussion  is  prohibited  I  want  to  move  to  Kamtchatka  or  the  Kingdom  of  Dahomey. 
I  am  willing  to  acknowledge  a  man  of  any  party  a  patriot  provided  he  loves  his  country 
and  strives  for  its  welfare,  be  he  Republican,  Democrat,  Freemason,  Native  American, 
Fenian,  or  Brooklyn  lecturer.  We  should  have  a  little  more  suavity  and  politeness  in 
political  discussion.  How  seldom  it  is  you  find  two  people  talking  politics,  but  they  get 
mad.  I  do  not  know  why  a  man  cainiot  be  as  polite  on  the  subject  of  politics  as  any  other 
subject. 

A  man  was  driving  a  cow  along  the  road  and  the  cow  turned  up  the  wrong  lane,  and 
he  saw  a  man  coming  down  the  lane  and  he  thought  he  would  just  have  him  stop  the  cow. 
So  he  shouted,  "  Head  that  cow."  The  man  answered,  "  She's  got  a  head."  "  Well,"  said 
the  other,  "turn  her."  The  man  replied,  "She's  right  side  out  now."  "Well,  speak  to 
her."  The  man  answered,  "Good-morning, ma'am."  Polite,  even  to  a  cow.  So  I  like  to 
see  a  man  always  polite  to  his  cow,  to  his  horse,  to  his  dog,  and  especially  to  his  fellow- 
man,  and  more  especially  if  that  man  happens  to  know  as  much  as  you  do.  There  never 
has  been  any  reason  why  you  or  I  should  have  the  blues  about  our  beloved  lands,  and  there 
are  no  reasons  now.  By  the  throne  of  the  eternal  God  I  assert  it  that  truth  and  liberty  and 
justice  shall  yet  be  triumphant  over  all  their  foes.  Many  years  ago  I  gazed  upon  a  scene, 
which  for  calamity  and  grandeur,  one  seldom  sees  equaled.  I  mean  the  burning  of  the  Smitl> 
sonian  Institute  of  the  United  States  at  Washington.  You  have  all  heard  of  the  architectural 
grandeur  of  that  structure.  It  was  the  pride  of  my  country.  In  it  art  had  gathered  rarest 
specimens  from  all  lauds  and  countries.  It  was  one  of  those  buildings  which  seize  you 
with  enchantment  as  }'ou  enter  and  all  the  rest  of  your  life  holds  you  with  the  charm.  I 
happened  to  see  the  first  glow  of  the  fires  which  on  that  cold  day  looked  out  from  the 
costly  pile.  I  saw  the  angry  elements  rear  and  rave.  The  shout  of  affrighted  workmen, 
and  the  assault  of  fire  engines  only  seemed  to  madden  the  red  monsters  that  rose  up  to 
devour  all  that  came  within  reach  of  their  chain.  Up  along  the  walls  and  through  the 
towers  were  stretched  fiery  hands,  that  snatched  down  all  they  could  reach  and  hurled  them 
into  the  abyss  of  flame  beneath.  The  windows  of  the  tower  would  light  up  for  a  minute  with 
a  wild  glare,  and  then  darken,  as  though  fiends  with  streaming  locks  of  fire  had  come  to  gaze 
out  in  laughing  mockery  at  all  human  attempts,  and  then  sank  again  into  their  native 
darkness.  W^ith  crackle  and  roar  and  crash  the  floors  tumbled.  The  roof  began  here  and 
there  to  blossom  in  wreaths  and  vines  of  flame.  Up  and  down  the  pillars  ran  serpents  of 
fire.  Out  from  the  windows  great  arms  and  fingers  of  flame  were  extended,  as  though 
destroyed  spirits  were  begging  for  deliverance.  The  tower  put  on  a  coronet  of  flame  and 
staggered  and  fell,  the  sparks  flying,  the  firemen  escaping,  the  terror  accumulating.     Books, 


134 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


maps,  rare  correspondence,  autographs  of  kings,  costly  diagrams  burned  to  cinder,  or 
scattered  for  many  a  rood  upon  the  wild  wind,  to  be  picked  up  by  the  excited  multitude.  Oh  ! 
it  seemed  like  some  great  funeral  pile,  in  which  the  wealth  and  glory  of  the  land  had 
leaped  to  burn  with  its  consuming  treasures.  The  heavens  were  blackened  with  whirl- 
winds of  smoke  through  which  shot  the  long  red  shafts  of  calamity.  Destruction  waved 
its  fiery  banner  from  the  remaining  towers,  and  in  the  thunder  of  falling  beams  and  in  the 
roaring  surge  of  billowing  fire,  I  heard  the  spirits  of  ruin  and  desolation  and  woe  clapping 
their  hands  and  shouting,  "Aha,  aha !"  I  turned  and  looked  upon  the  white  dome  of  the 
Capitol,  which  rose  through  the  frosty  air,  as  imposing  as  though  all  the  white  marble  of 
the  earth  had  come  to  resurrection,  and  stood  before  us,  and  reminding  one  of  the  great 
White  Throne  of  heaven.  There  it  stood  unmoved  by  the  terrors  which  that  day  had  been 
kindled  before  it.  No  tremor  in  its  majestic  columns.  No  frown  on  its  magnificent  sculp- 
ture. No  flush  of  excitement  in  its  veins  of  marble.  Column  and  capitol  and  dome,  built 
to  endure  until  the  world  itself  shatters  in  the  convulsions  of  the  last  earthquake.     Oh,  what 

a  contrast  b  e- 
tween  that 
smoking  ruin 
on  the  one 
hand,  and  that 
gorgeous  dream 
o  f  architecture 
on  the  other. 
Well,  the  day 
speeds  on  when 
the  grandest 
achievement  of 
man  shall  be 
consumed  and 
the  world  shall 
blaze.  Down 
will  go  galler- 
ies of  art  and 
thrones  of  roy- 
alty, and  the  hurricanes  of  God's  power  will  scatter  even  the  ashes  of  consumed 
greatness  and  glory.  Not  one  tower  left.  Not  one  city  unconsumed.  Not  one  scene 
of  grandeur  to  relieve  the  desolation.  Forests  dismasted.  Seas  licked  up.  Continents 
sunk.  Hemispheres  annihilated.  Oh,  the  roar  and  thundering  crash  of  that  last  conflagra- 
tion !  But  from  that  ruin  of  a  blazing  earth  we  shall  look  up  to  see  the  Temple  of  Liberty 
and  Justice  rising  through  the  ages  white  and  pure  and  grand,  unscarred  and  unshaken. 
Founded  on  the  eternal  rock  and  swelling  into  domes  of  infinitude  and  glory  in  which  the 
hallelujahs  of  heaven  have  their  reverberation.  No  flame  of  human  hate  shall  blacken  its 
walls.  No  thunder  of  infernal  wrath  shall  rock  its  foundation.  By  the  upheld  torches  of 
burning  worlds  we  shall  read  it,  on  column  and  architrave  and  throne  of  eternal  dominion  : 
"  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  truth  and  liberty  and  justice  shall  never  pass 
away." 


SYDNEY    TRAM-CAR    ON    WHICH    WE    HAD  THE    PLEASURE    OF    RIDING. 


SI' 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  NOBLE  MAORIS;   OR,   MURDER  AS  A  PASTIME. 

"HAT  the  Indians  are  to  America,  the  Maoris  are  to  New  Zealand.  These 
aborigines  are  dying  out  very  rapidly,  but  you  see  them  in  all  the  upper 
portions  of  New  Zealand.  All  this  country  was  once  theirs,  and  they  would 
have  kept  it,  but  from  whaling  ships  the  foreigners  alighted  to  furnish  enough 
rum  and  vices  of  all  sorts  to  kill  the  Maoris.  They  are  said  to  be  a  superior  race  of  savages, 
but  the  nobility  of  them  I  fail  to  see.  Their  faces  are  plowed  up,  not  with  age,  but  by  a 
tattooing  which  they  suppose  pictorializes  and  beautifies.  Sharp  shells  scooped  out  these 
furrows  of  the  countenance.  Their  greatest  fun  was  massacre.  When  some  of  them 
adopted  Christianity,  they  received  the  Old  Testament  but  rejected  the  New  Testament. 
They  liked  the  war  scenes  of  the  Old,  but  not  the  peace  of  the  New.  On  occasions  they 
made  cartridges  of  the  New  Testament.  When  they  could  not  eat  all  their  enemies,  they 
preserved  them  in  tin  cans  and  sent  them  as  delicate  presents  to  their  friends.  The  ship 
"  Boyd,"  bound  for  England,  put  in  at  one  of  the  New  Zealand  harbors,  and  all  on  board 
were  slain  and  eaten  e.xcept  a  woman  and  three  children,  who  hid  away,  the  only  survivors 
to  tell  the  story.  Of  course,  all  ships  knew  that  if  they  were  wrecked  on  these  shores  they 
would  become  a  part  of  the  diet  of  the  people.  Two  of  their  chiefs  taken  to  London  in 
1820  aroused  much  interest,  and  they  were  loaded  with  presents  of  all  sorts  ;  but  before 
starting  for  home  these  recipients  exchanged  the  presents  for  muskets,  with  which  they 
drove  back  and  destroyed  the  neighboring  tribes  who  could  not  afford  muskets.  Some  of 
these  savages  went  so  far  as  to  lend  clubs  and  powder  and  knives  to  their  enemies,  that 
lively  fighting  might  be  kept  up.  On  one  occasion  they  refused  to  capture  the  trains 
carrying  food  and  ammunition  to  the  opposing  forces,  and  when  the  chief  of  the  Maoris 
was  asked  the  cause  of  this,  he  replied,  "Why,  you  fool,  if  we  had  captured  their  ammu- 
nition and  food  how  could  they  have  fought !"  One  of  the  missionaries  says  that  he  held 
a  religious  service  at  a  place  between  two  fighting  tribes,  and  from  both  tribes  the  audience 
was  made  up  on  Sunday,  but  on  Monday  they  resinned  their  old  fight.  If  they  had  had 
plainly  put  to  them  the  first  question  of  the  Catechism,  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ?" 
their  reply,  if  frankly  made,  would  have  been,  "  The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  make  an  end 
of  him."  De  Quincy  wrote  an  essay  on  "  IVIurder  as  a  Fine  Art,"  but  to  the  ]\Iaoris  murder 
was  pastime.  Assassination  was  for  ages  their  gladdest  recreation.  IMassacre  was  their 
sport.  It  was  to  them  what  the  tennis  court  and  croquet  ground  and  baseball  are  to  many 
moderns.  No  hunter  ever  more  enjoyed  shooting  reed  birds  or  fetching  down  a  roebuck  ; 
no  fisherman  better  liked  throwing  a  fly  and  watching  a  spotted  trout  rise  to  snap  it,  than  did 
these  Maoris  the  slaughter  of  a  man.  Give  beef  or  mutton  to  others,  but  the  appetite  of 
the  Maori  wanted  something  human  in  the  bill  of  fare.  Many  of  the  Maoris  may  be  good, 
and  kind,  and  noble,  but  their  ancestors  were  without  nobility  of  nature,  unless  laziness  and 
heartlessness  and  revenge  and  malevolence  be  noble.  What  an  appetite  they  must  have 
had  for  soup  of  human  bones  !  for  white  man  on  toast !  and  for  spare  rib  of  missionary ! 
We  search  New  Zealand  in  vain  from  top  of  North  Island  to  foot  of  South  Island  to  find 
among  the  Maoris  anything  moie  noble   than   seen   in   the  American   Indian  seated  by  a 

(135) 


136  THE   EARTH  ■  GIRDLED. 

bridlepath  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  wrapped  in  filthy  blanket,  hair  combed  once  in  forty 
years,  waiting  for  a  cowboy  to  toss  him  a  rusty  cent.  These  Maoris  were  the  impersona- 
tion of  cruelty  and  diabolism.  It  was  to  them  rare  sport  when  they  could  take  an  enemy 
and  scalp  the  skin  from  the  bottom  of  the  feet^if  you  can  apply  to  the  lower  extremities 
the  word  usually  applied  to  the  upper  extremities — and  make  the  victim  walk  on  a  rough 
place,  and  the  shriek  of  pain  would  make  these  noble  savages  laugh  till  you  could  hear 
them  half  a  mile  away.  Sometimes  they  would,  in  order  to  have  fresh  meat,  cut  the  flesh 
from  their  victim  just  as  they  needed  it  by  nice  tid-bits  and  day  after  da}-.  Back  of 
Gisborne,  New  Zealand,  to  make  a  fine  peroration  of  their  accomplishments,  thev  killed  all 
the  men,  women  and  children,  so  that  the  authors  might  not  be  charged  with  lack  of 
thoroughness. 

They  tell  the  most  .  enormous  stories  of  the  bravery  of  their  ancestors.  These 
ancestors,  they  say,  killed  the  tvv'o  great  warriors  of  Waterloo,  Wellington  and  Napoleon, 
and  the  tribe  believe  it  too.  Within  a  few  days  one  of  their  chiefs  was  buried  amid  wild 
scenes  of  lamentation,  and  after  the  body  was  put  in  the  ground,  the  chief's  hat  and 
blanket  and  umbrella  were  thrown  in  after  him,  and  then  many  of  the  tribe  leaped  upon 
the  grave  with  howls  and  screams  and  dancing.  Not  satisfied  with  deeds  of  cruelty  while 
living,  these  noble  Maoris  in  olden  time  expected  their  wives  to  strangle  themselves,  and 
while  twisting  the  flax  for  the  rope,  the  sister  of  the  dead  chief  is  reported  by  a  recent 
writer  as  looking  up  to  the  moon  and  saying : 

"  It  is  well  with  thee,  O  moon  !     You  return  froni  death, 
Spreading  your  light  on  the  little  waves.     Jlen  saj-, 

'  Behold  the  moon  re-appears  ;' 
But  the  dead  of  this  world  return  no  more. 
Grief  and  pain  spring  up  in  my  heart  as  from  a  fountain. 
I  hasten  to  death  for  relief 

Oh  !  that  all  might  eat  those  numerous  soothsayers. 
Who  could  not  foretell  his  death. 
Oh  !  that  I  might  eat  the  governor  ; 
For  his  was  the  war  !" 

One  of  tlie  most  terrible  things  in  all  the  country  ot  the  Maoris  is  their  law  of  Tapu. 
If  any  one  breaks  that  he  must  die.  When  a  thing  is  said  to  be  tapu,  no  one  must  use  or 
employ  it.  For  instance,  a  man  gave  a  slave  a  knife,  forthwith  that  knife  became  tapu,  yet 
some  one  dared  with  that  knife  to  cut  the  bread  for  a  chief's  mother,  and  the  man  who 
used  the  knife  for  that  purpose  was  butchered.  That  whimsicality  of  tapu  has  left  its 
victims  all  up  and  down  New  Zealand.  The  fact  is  that  barbarisms  are  so  repulsive  in  every 
form  that  there  is  nothing  admirable  about  them,  and  the  only  thing  to  do,  is  by  the 
influence  of  Christian  civilization  to  extirpate  them,  and  they  are  going,  and  for  the  most 
part  have  already  gone.  Cannibalism  in  New  Zealand  is  dead.  The  funeral  pyres  in  India 
have  been  extinguished.  The  Juggernaut  has  been  put  aside  as  a  curiosity  for  travelers  to 
look  at.  Instead  of  the  cruelties  that  once  cursed  these  lands  I  find  our  glorious  Christianity 
dominant.  All  over  New  Zealand,  the  highest  culture,  the  grandest  churches,  the  best 
schools,  and  a  citizenship  than  which  the  world  holds  nothing  nobler. 

I  hereby  report  to  the  American  lecturers  that  New  Zealand  is  a  grand  place  for  their 
useful  work.  Only  two  or  three  English  and  one  American  lecturer  have  ever  trod  these 
platforms.  But  the  opportunity  here  is  illimitable.  Not  in  all  the  round  earth  are  there 
more  alert,  responsive,  or  electric  audiences.  They  are  quicker  than  American  or  European 
assemblages  to  take  everything  said  on  platform  or  in  pulpit.     They  call  out  all  there  is  in 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  •  137 

a  speaker  of  instruction  or  entertainment.  And  the  Church  and  the  world  have  yet  to  find 
out  that  audiences  for  the  most  part  decide  whether  sermons  or  lectures  shall  be  good  or 
poor.  Stolid  or  unresponsive  audiences  make  stolid  and  stupid  speakers.  Wendell 
Phillips,  one  of  the  monarchs  of  the  platform,  told  me  something  very  remarkable  con- 
cerning himself,  while  we  were  standing  in  a  Boston  book-store,  and  he  was  chiding  me  for 
not  appearing  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  from  which  place  he  had  just  returned,  and  where 
I  had  tried  to  get  a  few  days  before,  but  was  hindered  by  snow  banks,  and  my  offer  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  use  of  a  locomotive  had  been  declined.  Mr.  Phillips  said 
that  the  audience  in  one  of  the  Eastern  States  nearly  killed  him.  He  said,  "  I  stood  for 
nearly  an  hour  without  seeing  or  hearing  anything  by  which  I  could  judge  of  the  effect  of 
what  I  had  said.  If  they  had  only  hissed  or  applauded,  I  did  not  care  which,  I  could  have 
got  on  with  some  comfort."  .  .  .  Mr.  Phillips  surprised  me  by  this  statement  as  to  the 
effect  wrought  upon  him  by  a  phlegmatic  assemblage. 

The  audience  decides  the  fate  of  sermons  or  lectures.  A  half  dozen  men  might,  if  they 
wished  to  engage  in  so  mean  a  business,  take  a  contract  to  break  down  any  speaker,  if  they 
would  sit  right  before  him,  gape,  take  out  their  watches,  and  cough  with  mouth  wide  open, 
and  then  seemingly  go  sound  asleep.  An  eloquent  American  preacher,  standing  before  me 
in  a  former  pulpit  delivered  the  first  half  of  his  sermon  with  great  power,  and  his  words 
had  wings  and  his  countenance  was  aflame  with  holy  enthusiasm,  when  suddenly  his  wings 
of  thought  and  utterance  dropped,  and  he  stammered  on  his  way,  and  got  entangled  in 
metaphor,  and  lost  his  thread  of  discourse,  and  failed  to  prove  that  which  he  said  at  the 
start  he  would  prove,  and  then  sat  down.  While  the  congregation  were  singing  the  last 
hymn  he  said,  "Who  is  that  distinguished-looking  gentleman  right  in  front  of  the  pulpit? 
The  sight  of  his  somnolency  and  lack  of  interest  completely  upset  me."  "  Oh  !  "  I  said,  "  that 
is  the  Honorable  Mr.  so  and  so,  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  nation,  and  he  was  deeply 
interested  in  all  you  said.  He  is  not  asleep,  but  is  suffering  from  weak  eyes,  and  is  com- 
pelled to  keep  them  shut  while  listening."  The  uninteresting  appearance  of  the  auditor 
had  overthrown  a  "  Master  of  Assemblies." 

I  say  to  the  men  who  preach  and  lecture,  come  to  New  Zealand.  But  should  ministers 
ever  lecture?  Ought  they  not  always  preach?  My  answer  is  that  the  intelligent  lecture 
hall  is  half  way  to  the  church,  and  I  notice  that  men  who  have  been  hating  the  church 
and  all  sacred  things,  if  they  come  and  hear  one  lecture,  are  sure  to  come  and  hear  him 
preach.  Beside  that  there  are  important  things  to  be  said,  and  things  that  must  be  said, 
which  are  more  appropriate  to  lecture  hall  than  to  pulpit.  The  three  mightiest  agencies 
for  making  the  world  better  are  the  Pulpit,  Printing  Press  and  Platform.  Side  by  side  may 
they  always  stand  in  the  battle  for  righteousness.  But  for  them  the  Indians'  war-whoop 
would  yet  be  sounding  in  America  and  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  morning  meal  of  human 
flesh  would  still  be  going  on  in  New  Zealand,  and  the  Ganges  would  still  be  horrible  with 
infanticide.  Let  all  nations  reconstruct  their  notions  of  New  Zealand.  I  write  this  at 
Dunedin,  imposing  in  its  architecture,  picturesque  in  its  surroundings,  unbounded  in  its 
hospitality,  and  another  Edinburgh,  after  which  I  understand  it  is  named  Dun — Ediu  being 
the  Gaelic  for  the  Northern  capital  of  intelligence. 

The  vScotch  founded  it  and  what  the  Scotch  do  they  do  well.  They  believe  in  some- 
thing, and  it  is  almost  always  something  good  that  they  believe  in.  High-toned  morality 
characterizes  everything  that  they  do  or  touch  ;  solidity,  breadth,  massiveness  and  religiosity 
are  the  types  of  the  men  and  cities  and  nations  they  build.  No  country  is  well  started  that 
has  not  felt  the  influence  of  the  Scotch,  with  their  brawny  arms  and  high  cheek  bones. 


138 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


The  seaport  of  this  place  is  called  Chalmers  Port,  named  after,  I  have  no  doubt,  Thomas 
Chalmers,  the  greatest  of  Scotchmen,  unless  it  were  John  Knox  ;  and  the  largest  church  in 
this  place,  where  I  preached  last  night,  is  Knox  Church,  called,  I  have  no  doubt,  after  the 
man  who  at  Holyrood  made  a  queen  tremble.     Here  I  am  in  the  mid-winter  of  this  colony, 

for  July  here  corresponds  with  our  Ameri- 
can Januar)' ;  but  there  are  no  such  severi- 
ties of  frost  or  snow  as  we  are  familiar  with 
in  our  New  York  latitudes.  The  grass  is 
at  this  moment  a  bright  emerald,  the  gar- 
dens are  in  glorious  flower,  the  miles  of 
hedgerows  that  line  the  roads  and  part  the 
fields  are  banks  of  gold  because  of  their 
blossoming  gorse.  From  the  top  of  the 
North  Island  of  New  Zealand  to  the  foot 
of  the  South  Island,  the  colony  is  a  be- 
witchment of  interest.  For  120  miles  ever 
and  anon  geysers  send  up  their  steam  curl- 
ing on  the  air.  The  glaciers,  the  romantic 
lakes,  the  drives,  the  wooded  summits,  the 
mountain  peaks,  the  escarpment  of  the 
hills,  the  fertile  fields,  the  falling  waters, 
the  hot  springs  and  the  cold  springs,  the 
flora  with  its  infinitude  of  camelias,  and  its 
small  heaven  of  ferns,  the  sunrises  and  sun- 
sets, and  above  all  the  people  with  a  cordi- 
ality and  heartiness  independent  of  all 
weather  and  all  circumstances,  make  New 
Zealand  1300  miles  of  invitation  to  the  in- 
habitants of  other  zones  to  come  here 
whether  for  health  or  pleasure,  or  liveli- 
hood or  worship.  What  uplifted  altars  of  basalt !  What  blue  domes  of  sky  !  What  bright 
lavers  of  river  !  What  baptism  of  gentle  shower !  What  incense  of  morning  mist !  What 
doxology  of  sea  on  both  beaches !  What  a  temple  of  beauty,  and  glory,  and  joy,  and 
divine  ascription  is  New  Zealand ! 


'^. 

.'  -;  'v^^'V-'^^^^^^^l 

By 

•!^^Hpi||^H| 

LimI  1 

■ 

^^^^™ 

^^'^.-^ 

DR.     XALMAGIi 


A.MUXG      S.WAGES 
SEAS. 


UI-      TUli    SOUTH 


CHAPTER  XL 

WOMAN   IN   NEW  ZEALAND  AND  THE  FALL  OF  THE  TERRACES. 

eXCELLENT  and  superb  as  are  the  women  of  New  Zealand,  more  good  women  are 
needed  in  this  colony.  In  most  places  where  I  have  lived  or  traveled  women  are 
in  blessed  majority,  and  it  seems  that  the  Lord  likes  them  better  than  men, 
because  he  has  made  more  of  them.  There  is  in  most  places  a  surplus  of  good 
womanhood,  and  they  therefore  do  not  get  full  appreciation.  But  New  Zealand  is  an 
exception.  In  this  colony  there  are  fifty  thousand  less  women  than  men.  This  will  by 
circumstances  be  adjusted.  There  ought  certainly  to  be  as  many  women  as  men  in  every 
land,  for  every  man  is  entitled  to  a  good  wife  and  e\'ery  woman  is  entitled  to  a  good  hus- 
band. The  difficulty  is  that  w-ar  and  rum  kill  so  many  men  that  the  man  intended  for  the 
woman's  lifetime  partnershii?  is  apt  to  lie  in  the  soldier's  grave  trench  or  in  the  drunkard's 
ditch.  In  tlie  Paradisiacal  and  perfect  state  the  womanhood  equaled  the  manhood,  for 
there  was  one  of  each  kind.  The  women  in  New  Zealand  have  already  done  well,  for 
while  in  the  United  States  and  Europe  the  women  are  discussing  in  parlors  and  on  the 
platforms  how  they  shall  get  their  rights  at  the  ballot-box,  that  castle  has  already  been 
stormed  and  taken  by  the  women  here.  After  a  while  the  brave  sisterhoods  in  the  LTnited 
States  and  Great  Britain  will  band  together,  and  from  the  crowded  parlors  where  so  many 
languish  in  inanition  and  inoccupation,  they  will  make  a  crusade  to  these  parts  of  the  earth, 
where  their  presence  would  be  hailed  and  their  opportunities  augmented.  The  theory  that 
men  must  go  into  new  countries  alone  and  establish  themselves  in  mines,  in  mechanism  or 
merchandise,  and  then  send  for  their  families  to  join  them,  is  an  overdone  theory.  The 
wives  and  daughters  and  sisters  had  better  come  along  with  their  husbands,  fathers,  and 
brothers.  Instead  of  there  being  a  surplus  of  men  in  the  colonies  there  ought  to  be  a  sur- 
plus of  women,  out  of  which  to  get  the  supply  of  maiden  aunts — those  guardian  angels  of 
the  community  who  are  at  home  in  the  whole  circle  of  kindred,  the  confidant  of  the  young 
and  the  comfort  of  the  old,  and   the  benediction   of  all. 

Not  only  is  there  room  in  New  Zealand  for  more  good  womanhood,  but  there  is  room 
for  more  artists  and  naturalists.  Here  are  mountains  9000,  10,000,  11,000,  12,000  feet 
high,  waiting  for  some  one  to  take  their  photographs  ;  and  while  most  of  the  mountains  of 
the  earth  stand  stolid  and  statuesque  and  without  varieties  of  posture,  some  of  these  change 
their  shape  and  altitude  under  volcanic  suggestion,  as  the  man  in  the  photographic  gallery,  at 
the  artist's  suggestion,  changes  from  side  face  to  full  face,  or  from  frown  to  smile,  and  one  day 
in  this  region  a  mountain  turns  clear  round,  or  from  standing  posture  sits  down  with  heavy 
plunge ;  or  a  crevice  opens  between  the  cheeks  of  the  hill — a  wide-open  mouth  full  of 
laughter  or  threat.  The  changes  in  the  mountain  ranges  are  enough  to  set  a  geologist  wild 
with  interest  or  send  him  running  up  and  downi  these  altitudes  with  crowbar  to  dig,  or 
hammer  to  strike  or  tape  line  to  measure.  On  a  night  in  June,  1886,  the  mountains  of 
Tarawera  and  Rotomahana,  New  Zealand,  had  a  grand  frolic.  For  many  years  tourists  had 
gone  to  visit  the  "  Terraces,"  as  they  were  called — ancient  forms  of  volcanic  eruption.  They 
were  stairs  of  pictured  stones,  step  above  step  of  pumice  and  lava,  reaching  from  earth 
toward  heaven,  but  some  of  the  steps  of  the  stairs  50  and   100  feet  high  ;  not  so  much  a 

(139^ 


140 


THE    EARTH   GIRDLED. 


Jacob's  Ladder  as  an  Omnipotent  stairway  up  and  down  which  walked  all  the  splendors 
and  majesties,  and  grandeurs  and  radiancies  of  day  and  night,  and  sunshine  and  tempest, 
of  summer  and  winter,  of  decades  and  centuries  and  ages.  These  steps  seemed  to  be  made 
out  of  pearls,  prisms,  petrified  hyacinth,  lily  and  violet,  and  all  laid  out  as  with  a  divine 
geometry.  Such  curves,  such  bosses  of  exquisiteness,  such  ascents  and  descents  bewilder- 
ing   with     almost     super- 


natural glories ! 
smoothed      by 


Masonry 
invisible 
trowels ;  walls  regulated 
by  invisible  plumb-lines ; 
colors  put  on  by  in\'isible 
pencils ;  sculpture  cut  by 
invisible  chisels. 

On  the  night  of  June 
9,  1886,  the  moon  was 
passing  into  the  second 
quarter  when,  ten  minutes 
after  two  o'clock,  the  earth 
shook  and  the  mountains 
erupted.  Standing  ten, 
twelve,  fourteen  miles  off 
the  people  felt  the  shock 
and  saw  the  ascent  of  the 
steam  column,  and  the  red- 
hot  rocks,  and  the  volcanic 
ash,  and  the  scoria ;  and 
the  smoke  looking  like  a 
vast  pine  tree,  according 
to  the  statements  of  the 
poetic,  but  like  an  um- 
brella or  mushroom  accord- 
ing to  the  description  of 
the  rustic.  Those  who 
lived  near  the  base  of  the 
hills  did  not  survive  to  tell 
the  tale  of  the  catastrophe. 
The  detonations  were 
heard  250  miles  away. 
That  was  a  cannonading 
in  which  the  batteries 
were  touched  off  by 
hidden  dynamics.  Such 
a  combination  of  wrath  and  splendor  were  never  before  seen  in  New  Zealand.  It 
seemed  as  if  all  the  hyenas  of  rage  were  snarling  at. all  the  flamingoes  of  beauty.  The 
lake  hissed  as  with  ten  thousand  serpents  when  the  hot  bombs  of  the  mountain 
dropped   into    it.       The    malodors   of   burning  iron   oxides   and    magnesia,   and    chlorine, 


A    BE.^UTIFUI,    WOMAN    OF   THE    EAST. 


and     alumina,     and     sulphur     filled     all     the 


approximate     with    suffocation, 


(141) 


142  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

strangulation  and  asphyxia.  Sixty  miles  felt  the  upheaval ;  and  from  Auckland,  more  than 
130  miles  away,  a  ship  put  out  for  the  rescue  of  a  vessel  supposed  to  be  burning  at  sea — 
the  mistaken  fire  being  that  of  this  burning  mountain.  In  the  house  of  Mr.  Hazard,  a 
devout  Christian  man,  as  the  ashes  and  trees  and  stones  began  to  drop  heavily  on  the  roof, 
a  Christian  daughter,  believing  that  they  must  die,  sat  down  at  a  cabinet  organ  to  play  a 
piece  of  sacred  music,  and  the  whole  of  the  family  joined  in  the  hymn.  And  all  save  one 
•of  the  famil)-  perished.  At  the  hotel  a  Mr.  Bainbridge,  who  was  on  a  journey  round  the 
■world,  called  the  inmates  of  the  hotel  together  for  prayer,  and  he  told  them  they  had  only 
a  few  more  minutes  to  live,  and  as  he  was  passing  out  from  the  hotel  the  veranda  fell  upon 
him  and  crushed  him  to  death. 

We  talk  about  the  dumb  elements,  but  it  is  hard  for  me  to  believe  that  they  are  dumb  ; 
and  that  the  fire  does  not  feel  the  warmth  flowing  in  its  own  veins  ;  and  that  the  sighing 
winds  have  no  sorrow  ;  and  that  playing  fountains  experience  no  exhilaration ;  and  that 
the  light  does  not  enjoy  illumining  the  world  ;  and  that  the  sensitive-plant  does  not  feel 
your  touch  ;  and  that  the  rose,  with  all  its  incense,  does  not  worship.  It  seems  that  in 
these  paroxysms  of  the  mountains  nature  must  suffer. 

That  night  nine  miles  of  the  mountain  changed.  "The  Terraces,"  which  had  been 
the  pride  of  the  Colonies,  sank  out  of  existence.  No  one  but  the  Infinite  and  the  Almighty 
could  afford  the  obliteration  of  such  resources  of  beauty  and  glory.  The  casting  down  of 
such  altars  and  the  annihilation  of  such  temples,  would  have  been  an  iconoclasm  that 
would  have  affronted  the  universe  but  for  the  fact  that  the  Lord  who  made  Tarawera  and 
Rotomahana  has  a  right  to  do  what  He  will  with  His  own,  and  The  Terraces,  already 
beginning  to  re-form,  may  be  richer  colored  and  loftier  and  more  resplendent  than  their 
predecessors.  The  loss  to  New  Zealand  of  these  white  and  pink  terraces  is  what  would  be 
the  loss  of  the  Giant's  Causeway  to  Ireland,  or  the  loss  of  the  P\ramids  to  Egypt,  or  the 
loss  of  Niagara  Falls  to  America.  The  exact  physical  causes  of  this  up-setting  and  down- 
tearing  and  mountain-splitting  I  leave  to  geologists  to  guess  about.  Translating  their 
scientific  accounts  into  easier  language  it  seems  that  the  mountains  were  stiff  in  their  joints 
from  long  standing  and  went  into  play.  For  a  great  while  they  had  enjoyed  no  fireworks, 
and  that  night  they  illumined  New  Zealand  with  rockets  and  wheels  of  fire.  The  hills 
went  into  games  of  leapfrog,  and  ball  playing,  and  flying  kites,  and  boxing,  and  general 
romp.  They  were  exhilarated  with  a  mixture  of  gases,  sulphuric,  phosphoric  and  carbonic, 
and  forgot  all  the  proprieties  that  mountains  iisually  observe.  But  it  was  not  a  comedy. 
It  was  a  tragedy  of  the  mountains,  and  all  the  King  Lears,  and  the  Macbeths,  and  the 
Hamlets,  and  the  Meg  Merrilies  of  derangement  and  horror  were  that  night  on  the  stage, 
of  which  the  belching  fires  were  the  footlights,  and  flames  hundreds  of  feet  high  were  the 
gorgeous  upholstery.  Tornadoes  of  ashes.  Furnaces,  seven  times  heated,  in  which 
walked  the  Deity.  Grand  March  of  God  sounded  by  the  avalanches.  The  earth  bom- 
barding the  heavens.  Maniac  elements  tearing  the  clouds  into  tatters  and  grinding  rocks 
under  their  heels.  That  night  of  June  9th,  that  awful  night  in  New  Zealand,  when  the 
native  settlements  went  down  under  the  a.shes  of  bursting  Tarawera  as  completely  as 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  under  the  burial  of  Vesuvius,  seemed  to  play  an  accompaniment 
to  the  words  of  the  old  Book,  as  much  revered  in  New  Zealand  as  in  America  ;  an  accom- 
paniment in  full  diapason,  an  earthquake  with  its  foot  on  the  pedal  :  "  The  perpet- 
ual hills  did  bow,"  "  The  mountains  skipped  like  rams,"  "  The  hills  melted  like 
wax,"  "  The  foundations  of  the  earth  were  shaken,"  "  He  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it 
trembleth." 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


143 


That  downfall  of  the  New  Zealand  Terraces  was  only  a  conspicnous  circumstance  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Mountains  are  mortal,  and  they  write  their  autobiographies  on 
leaves  of  stone.  All  the  mountains  of  New  Zealand  were  nursed  in  cradle  of  earthquake  by 
a  parentage  of  rock  and  glacier,  and  they  will  have  their  descendants.  You  cannot  bury 
mountains  unokserved.  There  must  be  a  black  pall  of  smoke,  and  Dead  March  sounded 
by  orchestra  of  elements,  and  thunders  tolling  at  the  passing  funeral  of  hills,  and  spade  of 
fire  to  dig  their  grave,  and  the  discharge  of  all  heaven's  artiller}-  at  their  burial,  and  the 
solemn  and  overwhelming  Litany  sounded  :  "  Earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust." 

You  see  it  will  be  well  for  geologists  to  come  to  New  Zealand.  Ornithologists  ought 
also  to  come.      Last  evening,  although  it  is  here  midwinter — New  Zealand's  Jul}'  corre- 


THE    PINK   TERRACE,    NEW    ZEALAND, 


sponding  with  America's  January,  although  far  from  being  as  cold — I  was  standing  near  a 
clump  of  trees  which  still  kept  all  their  foliage,  and  there  were  bird  voices  absolutely 
bewildering  *for  numbers  and  sweetness.  If  the  notes  of  the  music  there  rendered  by  the 
winged  choir  had  been  written  on  each  leaf,  the  rendering  could  not  have  been  more  dulcet 
and  resonant.  It  would  take  more  room  and  time  than  I  possess  to  describe  the  ornitholog- 
ical riches  of  New  Zealand.  First  of  all  its  extinct  IMoa,  whose  skeleton  stands  in  the 
museum  at  Christchurch — a  wingless  bird,  or  only  apologies  for  wings,  but  10  feet  7  inches 
high,  neck  like  a  giraffe,  and  foot  as  wide  as  a  camel's.  This  Moa,  the  largest  bird  whose 
skeleton  has  ever  been  reticulated,  its  eggs  the  size  of  a  small  bandbox.  What  the  mastodon 
was  among  quadrupeds,  and  the  ichthyosaurus  was  among  fishes,  the  Moa  was  among  birds. 
But  among  the  living  birds  in  New  Zealand's  aviary  are  the  whale  bird,  black  on  the  back 


144  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

and  white  on  the  breast,  morning  rising  from  the  night ;  the  huia,  a  sacred  bird  of  the 
aborigines,  but  all  birds  ought  to  be  sacred  ;  the  parson  bird,  so-called  because  the  white 
feathers  round  its  neck  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  "white  choker  ;"  the  bell  bird,  with 
voice  like  a  chime  from  the  tower ;  the  New  Zealand  pigeon,  three  times  as  large  as  the 
American  pigeon,  and  more  beautiful  only  because  it  has  more  expanse  of  wing  and  feathers 
on  which  to  be  beautiful ;  the  kea,  that  wars  on  the  sheep,  fastening  itself  on  the  back  of 
the  live  sheep  and  not  relaxing,  but  pecking  its  way  through  the  wool  and  the  flesh  until 
the  sheep  is  dead  and  the  beak  reaches  the  fat  around  the  kidneys,  for  which  this  bird  has 
a  special  appetite,  a  habit  learned  probably  by  pecking  at  the  butchered  sheep  around  the 
door  of  the  shepherd's  hut ;  the  storm  petrel,  like  a  flake  of  the  midnight  ;  the  crested 
penguin  ;  the  paradise  duck,  its  name  taken  from  the  fact  that  its  richness  of  color  suggests 
the  Edenic,  and  birds  with  all  wealth  of  feather,  and  curiosity  of  beak,  and  eccentricity  of 
habit,  and  defence  of  claw,  and  audacity  of  flight,  and  bearing  all  colors — the  white 
running  into  crimson  like  snow  melting  into  the  fire  ;  the  blue,  as  if  in  some  higher  flight 
it  had  brushed  against  the  heavens  ;  or  yellow,  as  if  it  had  nested  amongst  cowslips  and 
buttercups,  or  spotted  and  fringed  and  ribboned  and  aflame  until  there  are  no  more 
fountains  of  radiance  into  which  they  can  possibly  dip  their  wings.  Oh!  for  some  scientific 
gimner  to  do  for  New  Zealand  what  Audubon  did  for  America.  But,  what  I  never  knew 
before,  the  native  birds  are  dying  out  before  the  foreign  birds  that  have  been  introduced, 
and  the  native  flowers  are  dying  out  before  the  foreign  flowers.  Although  now  New 
Zealand  is  so  abundant  in  all  styles  of  quadruped,  it  had  not,  when  discovered,  a  single 
quadruped  except  the  rat,  and  a  foreign  rat  having  been  introduced  the  aboriginal  rat  has 
nearly  disappeared.  The  English  grass  brought  here  has  killed  the  native  grass.  The 
birds  of  America,  Europe  and  Asia,  imported  here,  have  killed  the  birds  of  New  Zealand. 
All  the  earth  has  been  ransacked,  and  all  the  botanical  and  ichthyological  and  ornitholog- 
ical and  zoological  worlds  have  been  called  upon  to  make  up  the  present  and  the  future  of 
New  Zealand. 

Yea,  come  to  this  "  Wonderland  "  all  who  want  to  see  enterprise  and  advancement. 
Daily  newspapers  with  scholarly  men  in  editorial  chairs,  and  reporters  capable  of  pumping 
interviews  from  the  most  reticent  and  cautious,  and  make  a  Sphinx  speak.  Two  thousand 
miles  of  railroad.  Over  1600  schools  with  compulsory  education,  building  up  intelligence 
for  the  present  and  affording  no  opportunity  for  ignorance  in  the  next  century.  Baths, 
thermal  and  chemical,  miles  long  and  capable  of  putting  an  end  to  rheumatisms  and 
sciaticas  and  invalidisms  that  have  defied  the  mineral  hydropathics  of  the  continents.  Luke 
Taupo,  so  deep  that  no  plummet  has  ever  touched  bottom,  and  occup3'ing  the  hollow  of  an 
extinct  volcano,  as  a  bright  child  might  fall  to  sleep  in  the  bed  previously  occupied  by  a 
grim  giant.  Yea,  come  to  New  Zealand,  the  naturalists,  the  artists,  and  the  students  of 
men  and  things,  and  come  quickly,  for  nothing  remains  here  as  it  originally  was,  except 
the  mountains ;  and  even  the  mountains,  as  on  the  night  of  June  9,  1886,  when  the  walls 
of  "  The  Terraces  "  fell  down  at  the  blowing  of  the  trumpets  of  terror,  proved  themselves 
no  longer  to  be  the  "  everlasting  hills." 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  ORIENT. 


CHAPTER  Xir. 

OCEAN  GATE  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

y^'^V  ITCHED,  shaken,  twisted,  flung,  sickened,  bruised,  dismayed,  alarmed,  are  some 
*"^        I     of  the  words  which  describe  our  feelings  whilst  crossing  from  New  Zealand  to 
f<^^      Australia.     We  heard  that  the  passage  was  like  crossing  the  channel  of  Calais 
«  ^  from  France  to  England  but  that  instead  of  the  hour  and  a  half  it  would  be  four 

da\s  and  a  half.     It  was  worse  than  we  expected  and  worse  than  usual.     We  had  nearly  six 
days  of  it. 

The  only  alleviation  of  the  voyage  was  the  Captain,  who  was  jolly  at  the  time  to  be 
jollv,  serious  at  the  time  to  be  serious,  and  deeply  religious  at  all  times.  Converted  in  a 
Presbyterian  Church  in  New  Zealand,  he  has  become  a  flaming  evangel,  preaching  on  board 
his  steamer  once  or  twice  every  Sabbath. 

Our  rough  sea  experience  prepared  us  for  full  appreciation  of  one  of  the  brightest 
panoramas  of  land  and  sky  that  e\-er  nnroUed  before  mortal  vision.  Captain  Neville  said 
to  us  "  We  will  soon  be  in  sight  of  the  Australian  coast,  and  when  we  approach  the  harbor 
of  Svdnev  come  up  on  my  bridge,  and  I  will  point  out  to  you  the  objects  of  interest." 
"  Thank  vou,"  was  our  reply  to  the  unusual  invitation,  for  sea  captains  do  not  ordinarily 
like  to  have  company  on  the  steamer's  bridge.  In  a  few  moments  we  climbed  to  the  side  of 
the  Captain.  Great  walls  of  rock  built  by  the  eternal  God  reached  along  the  coast,  and 
stopped  only  wide  enough  apart  to  allow  ships  to  enter  and  to  keep  the  boisterous  ocean 
out. 

"  Yonder,"  said  the  Captain,  "  is  the  retreat  in  the  rocks  which  in  the  twilight  deceived 
the  Captain  of  the  '  Duncan  Dunbar'  to  mistake  it  for  the  harbor  and  to  aim  for  it,  crashing 
into  destruction.  All  on  board  perished  save  one  man  who  was  picked  up  after  he  had 
floated  down  on  to  the  shelving." 

Safelv  we  rode  in  between  the  two  great  brown  pillars  of  Hawkesbury  sandstone,  and 
then  began  the  revelation  of  a  harbor  such  as  nowhere  else  in  the  wide  world  is  to  be  found. 
The  whole  scene  is  an  Odyssey,  a  "  Divina  Comedia,"  an  Old  Testament  and  a  New 
Testament  of  grandeur  and  loveliness.  You  cannot  for  a  moment  relax  your  energy  of 
watching  without  missing  something  which  you  cannot  see  again.  The  white  palaces  of  the 
merchant  princes  of  Sydney  shine  through  the  foliage  of  the  trees.  Dipping  to  the  bay  are 
gardens  abloom  in  winter,  and  lawns  with  an  emerald  like  unto  the  fourth  layer  of  the  wall 
of  Heaven.  Tropical  plants  and  tropical  flowers  stand  side  by  side  with  the  growths  of 
more  rigorous  climates.  Vineyards  and  orange  groves,  pomegranates  and  guavas,  and  pine- 
apples growing  in  a  revelry  of  luxuriance.  Norfolk  pines,  palm,  Moreton  Bay  fig  and 
Eucah'ptus  trees  stretch  their  sceptres  over  the  scene.  Complete  bewitchment  of  landscape. 
"  Steady  !  "  cried  the  Captain  to  the  man  at  the  wheel,  "  steady  !  "  But  no  observer  can 
keep  ver\-  steady  while  watching  this  ever-changing,  ever-inspiring,  ever-enchanting  scene. 
"  Yonder  is  the  !\Ionasterv  :  vonder,  just  coming  in  sight,  is  the  Admiral's  house.  Yonder 
is  the  University.  Yonder  are  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  Yonder  are  the  old  prisons. 
There  is  the  Governor's  residence."  Here,  sweeping  up  close  to  our  steamer,  are  launches 
with  excursionists.  Yonder  are  sailing  boats,  so  small  they  suggest  a  fluttering  seagull, 
lo  (145) 


146 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


.>:'««i^ 


While  the  area  of  the  harbor  is  said  to  be  nine  square  miles,  the  water  line  of  it,  if 
followed  up  and  down  all  its  inlets,  would  be  twelve  hundred  miles.  The  rippling  waters 
kiss  the  beach,  and  the  beach  embraces  the  bay.  At  the  next  turn  of  our  steamer's  wheel 
more  garniture  of  island  and  arbor  and  inlet  and  promontory.  Oh !  how  the  marine 
loveliness  plays  "  hide  and  seek  "  amidst  the  islands.  Five  grim  batteries  pointing  their 
Armstrong  guns  at  us,  but  only  in  play.  "  Yonder,"  says  the  Captain,  "  is  a  French  steamer  ; 
yonder  an  American,  and  yonder  an  Englishman."  Sydne)'  harbor  is  so  broad  and  honest 
that  no  pilot  was  needed  to  come  on  board.  Room  here  for  all  the  navies  of  the  earth  to 
ride  in  and  secrete  themselves  so  that  they  could  not  be  found  without  much  search.  Room 
for  the  "Great  Easterns  "  of  the  past  and  the  "  Campanias  "  of  the  present  to  wheel  without 

'       _         •  peril.      Room  to  welcome  all  the  centuries 

;  and  generations  and  ages  which   are  yet  to 

drop  anchor  in  its  clear  depths.  He  only 
belittles  and  bedwarfs  and  bemeans  Sydney 
harbor  who  compares  it  to  the  Bay  of  Na- 
])les  or  the  entrance  to  Rio  Janeiro. 

God  works  by  no  model,  and  this  har- 
bor was  of  divine  origination.  He  works 
with  rocks  and  waters  and  skies  as  easily 
as  architects  work  with  pencil  and  rule  and 
compass  ;  and  He  intended  this  harbor  not 
to  be  a  repetition  of  anything  that  had  ever 
been  done,  and  to  make  it  impossible  for 
any  human  engineering  or  landscape  gar- 
dening or  hydraulics  to  imitate.  It  is  a 
winding  splendor,  an  unfolding  glory,  a 
transcendent  illustration  of  what  omnipo- 
tence can  do  in  the  architecture  of  an  ocean 
gate. 

The  day  we  entered  it,  clouds  of  all 
hues  were  looking  down  into  its  mirror  ; 
beauties  of  all  styles  were  walking  its  opa- 
line pavement ;  grandeurs  of  all  chariots 
were  rolling  across  its  crystalline  highway. 
On  the  captain's  bridge  we  stood  until 
near  enough  to  the  wharf  to  see  the  deputa- 
tion of  clergymen  and  prominent  citizens  who  were  waiting  to  come  aboard  to  greet  us, 
and  when  they  thronged  the  cabin  of  the  steamer,  and  addressed  us  in  welcoming  words, 
we  were  compelled,  by  onr  own  feelings,  to  reply  "  Brethren  and  friends !  after  sailing 
against  headwinds  and  over  very  rough  seas,  it  is  most  delightful  to  get  into  this  beautiful 
harbor  of  Sydney,  and   into  the  still   more  beautiful  harbor  of  Christian  fellowship." 

But  I  was  up  before  daybreak  next  morning  looking  at  the  harbor.  The  window  of 
my  room  in  the  Australian  hotel  takes  in  the  enchantment,  and  I  watched  the  coming  of  the 
day  into  that  harbor.  The  whole  sky  first  took  on  a  pallor,  not  sickly,  but  healthful,  as 
thoueh  there  were  white  wines  from  the  other  side  shining  through.  Then  there  came 
coruscations,  and  deep  indigoes,  and  irradiations,  and  sadnesses  of  color,  and  unrolling  scrolls 
prophetic  of  more  light,  and  sombres  and  holy  gleams,  and  rhapsodies  of  advancing  day ; 


AUSTRALIAN    ABORIGINAI,,  AS    I    SAW    HIM. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


147 


and  then,  banners  of  victory  over  tlie  darkness.  Then  in  this  wall  of  Heaven  the  gates 
began  to  swing  open.  It  was  no  sndden  swinging  back  of  the  panels  of  fire.  There  was 
no  grinding  of  the  gates  on  the  amethystine  hinges ;  there  was  no  clang  of  bolts  hnrled 
back  from  the  imperial  portals,  bnt  a  slow  and  gradual  and  over-powering  movement  that 
made  me  feel  there  was  more  to  come,  and  I  wondered  if  I  could  endure  the  expanding 
vision.  As  I  looked  into  the  gate  I  saw,  what  I  described  to  my  son  afterward  as  a  sceptre, 
a  sceptre  of  great  length  and  brilliance.  Such  a  sceptre  as  no  earthly  emperor  ever  had  in 
his  throne  room.  The  handle  of  the  sceptre  had  all  the  colors  of  the  prism.  The  edges 
of  it  were  translucent,  the  point  of  it  was  tipped  with  a  waving  light  all  the  time  changing. 
Yet  what  a  sceptre  !  What  king  would  dare  to  handle  it?  What  monarch  would  dare  to 
lift  it?  But  while  I  wondered,  the  question  was  answered:  the  king  of  day,  the  rising 
sun,  took  hold  of  it,  and  the  sceptre  which  I  had  seen 
a  few  seconds  before  lying  on  the  shelf  of  Heaven,  was 
first  hoisted  as  though  to  command  the  hidden  glories 
of  the  skies  to  come  down,  and  then  it  was  pointed  to 
the  harbor  as  the  place  of  their  destination,  and  on  that 
sapphire  of  the  waves,  both  the  sceptre  that  I  had  seen, 
and  the  crown  of  the  king  who  took  it,  were  put  down  ; 
and  from  green  island  to  green  island,  and  from  beach 
to  beach,  and  all  up  and  down  the  promontories,  and 
from  sky  to  water,  and  from  water  to  sky,  it  was  morn- 
ing in  Sydney  harbor. 

Have  you  ever  realized  that  there  is  only  one 
Being  in  the  universe  who  can  scoop  out  and  mould 
and  buttress  and  build  a  harbor.  At  Napier,  New 
Zealand,  where  we  sailed  in  and  stayed  only  long 
enough  for  an  hour  and  a  half's  address,  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  were  expended  in  building  a  break- 
water, and  so  at  Gisborne,  and  at  different  points  on  the 
Australian  coast,  harbors  have  been  constructed  by 
human  hands,  but  the  storms  looked  at  these  defiant 
ramparts  and  in  a  night  tumbled  the  costly  works  into 
the  Pacific.  Harbor  building  is  the  reserved  right  of 
the  Heavens.  Gates  of  palaces  and  gates  of  fortresses  may  be  turned  out  from  earthly 
foundries,  or  pounded  together  by  hammers  of  human  mechanism,  but  an  ocean  gate  like 
that  near  which  I  am  now  seated  needs  onmipotence  and  omniscience  and  infinity  to  plan 
and  construct  it. 

No  one  but  the  Eternal  knows  where  such  a  gate  is  needed.  He  sees  the  history  of  a 
continent  before  it  is  populated,  and  he  only  can  decide  where  its  front  door  ought  to  be 
hoisted  and  swung.  Beside  that  the  gate  must  correspond  with  the  size  and  greatness  of 
the  main  building.  The  door  of  the  Madeleine  Church  would  be  absurd  at  the  front  of  a 
Quaker  !\Ieeting  House.  Bronze  and  gold  wovild  make  an  inappropriate  entrance  to  a 
rookery.  Such  an  entrance  to  Australia  as  Sydney  harbor  w^ould  be  something  for  all  time 
and  eternit\'  to  jeer  at,  if  the  conntrv  thus  entered  were  not  something  innneasurable  for 
wealth,  resource  and  grand  opportunity.  Had  I  known  nothing  of  the  history  of  Australia 
what  I  saw  between  the  door-posts  of  this  harbor  and  the  wharf  of  our  disembarkation 
would  have  convinced  me  of  the  present  and  coming  opulence  of  this  fifth  continent  of  the 


tatooed  girl  of  oceanica. 


148 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


world.  With  sucli  an  ocean  gate,  I  am  not  surprised  that  Australia  is  fourteen  times  as 
large  as  France  and  thirty-three  times  as  large  as  England,  vScotland  and  Wales.  It  has 
been  estimated  as  capable  of  supporting  one  hundred  millions  of  people.  All  wealth  of 
mining  and  agriculture  and  commerce  and  art  and  scenery  are  here.  Caves  larger  than  the 
Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky.  Lakes  like  Como,  Lucerne  and  Geneva.  A  botany  so  rich 
in  flowers  that  Captain  Cook  called  one  of  the  entrances  "  Botany  Bay."  Whole  Pennsyl- 
vanias  of  coal  mines,  discovered  by  a  shipwrecked  sailor  in  1797,  but  now  defying  the 
crowbars  of  the  earth  to  take  one-half  of  their  treasures,  and  having  enough  material  to 
warm  a  continent  and  keep  aglow  the  steamship  furnaces  of  an  ocean.     Enough  sheep  pasture 

in  the  vales  and  on  the  hills  to  clothe  with 


their  wool  whole  nations.  These  sheep 
killed  and  frozen  in  refrigerators  here,  are 
transferred  in  carts  which  are  refrigerators, 
into  ships  wliich  are  refrigerators  and  car- 
ried across  the  seas  to  the  refrigerators  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  so  that  while  I  write  this 
letter,  almost  within  sound  of  the  bleating 
flocks  of  this  sheep-raising  country,  the  legs 
of  Australian  nnittoii  hang  in  London 
markets,  and  the  inhabitants  of  India  are 
breakfasting  on  lamb  chops  brought  from 
the  banks  of  Sydney  harbor.  One  sheep 
paddock  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles  square. 
So  much  of  these  colonies  is  in  the 
tropics  that  they  will  have  a  capacit},-,  when 
fully  developed,  to  yield  enough  sugar  to 
sweeten  the  beverages  of  the  earth,  and 
raise  enough  tea  to  soothe  the  nerves  and 
stimulate  the  conversation  of  the  social 
groups  of  all  zones,  and  produce  enough 
cotton  to  clothe  hemispheres.  Enough  iron 
to  be  brought  up  from  the  cellar  of  these 
colonies  to  rail-track  the  planet.  Copper 
and  lead,  silver  and  gold  waiting  for  resur- 
rection. Sapphires  and  rubies,  topaz  and 
chn,'Soberyls  read}-  to  flash  and  burn  on  the  bosom  of  the  world's  beauty.  Cope's  Creek 
yielded  in  one  year  twenty-five  thousand  diamonds. 

Do  you  say  that  vast  regions  are  not  arable  but  a  desert?  Yes,  but  boring  underneath 
the  sand  and  rock  discovered  water  which  is  only  waiting  to  be  called  up  to  irrigate  the 
surfaces.  What  irrigation  has  done  for  Egypt  and  China,  and  is  doing  for  the  American 
desert,  will  be  done  for  the  idle  acreage  of  Australia.  It  has  been  demonstrated  again  and 
again  that  better  than  the  rainfall  it  is  to  have  waters  gathered  into  reservoirs;  and  so 
droughts  and  freshets  are  avoided,  and  when  you  want  water  you  turn  it  on,  and  when  yon 
want  it  to  stop,  you  turn  it  off".  If  you  say  there  are  not  enough  hills  in  Australia  to  pour 
down  the  water  upon  the  lands  I  reply  by  asking  where  is  the  power  of  machinery?  Science 
and  enterprise  will  invent  a  pump  that  could  spout  up  the  subterraneous  and  hidden  rivers, 
lakes  and  oceans  of  Australia.     Irrigation  will  yet  abolish  the  American  De.sert,  the  Arabian 


BARRON    RIVER    NATIVE. — AUSTRALIA. 


THE  WORLD  AS  vSEEN  TO-DAY. 


149 


I 


Desert,  the  great  Sahara  Desert,  and  the  Australian  Desert.  All  hail  to  the  agriculture,  and 
mining,  and  merchandise,  and  manufacture,  and  art,  and  opulence,  and  religion  of  the 
coming  generations  of  Australia.  After  a  while  America,  the  focus  of  emigration  from  all 
lands,  will  be  occupied,  and  then,  if  not  before,  Australia  will  call  the  millions  of  the  earth 
who  want  more  room  and  better  chance  and  easier  livelihood,  to  pass  through  the  same 
ocean  gate  that  opened  for  us  a  few  days  ago,  and  to  feel  the  welcome  blooming  from  the 
same  skies  and  reaching  out  from  the  same  Hawkesbury  sandstone,  and  breathing  in  the 
same  balsamic  atmosphere,  and  flasliing  from  the  depths  of  the  same  matchless  harbor. 


SYDNEY   HEAD. — ENTRANCE   TO    SYDNEY    HARBOR    AS    I    REMEMBER  IT. 


While  dictating  this  letter  to  a  stenographer  in  Sydney,  and  looking  off  ujDon  its  harbor, 
I  hear  the  chimes  of  the  bells  from  the  tower  of  the  post-office.  It  is  the  only  post-office 
that  I  have  ever  known  to  be  graced  by  such  a  charm  of  harmonies.  But  how  appropriate  ! 
for  the  post-office  of  every  city  rings  out  more  music,  or  tolls  more  sadne.ss  than  any  other 
building.  There  are  the  piles  of  letters  with  joyful  tidings  and  hilarious  surprises  and 
marriage  announcements ;  and  every  post-office  ought  to  have  a  chime  of  wedding  bells. 
But  every  post-office  has  piles  of  letters  with  stories  of  sadness  and  bereavement,  and  loss 
and  death,  and  burial,  and,  therefore,  such  a  building  ought  to  have  bells  to  sound  the 
knell  and  bells  to  toll  the  grief  Riug  on  ye  bells  of  Sidney  post-office  and  sound  over 
yonder  harbor  your  merriment  or  sadness.       Four   times   every  hour  that  tower  showers  its 


I50 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


chimes ;  at  each  quarter  hour  the  air  is  stirred  with  its  melodies,  but  at  the  close  of  each 
full  hour  the  effect  is  very  peculiar.  Tiukle  and  clasli,  and  jingle  and  roll,  go  the  sweet 
metallic  voices,  as  much  as  to  say  "  Be  cheery  while  the  moments  go  by  !  Move  as  briskly 
as  you  can,  and  let  the  passing  moments  keep  step  with  the  sounding  joy."  But  while  you 
are  listening,  suddenly  there  comes  in  the  mighty  stroke  of  the  post-office  clock  in  deepest 
and  most  reverberating  tone,  letting  you  know  that  one  more  hour  of  time  is  forever  past, 
and  it  sounds  solemn  and  tremendous  as  though  at  every  stroke  it  said  of  the  hour  just 
departed  "  Gone !  Gone  !  Gone !  "  The  deep  bass  of  that  last  sound  overpowering  the 
merry  sopranos  that  preceded  it.  So  the  gladnesses  and  solemnities  connningle.  But 
perhaps  I  may  have  misinterpreted  the  utterances  of  that  heavy  and  mighty  clock  in  the 
post-office  tower.  It  seemed  like  the  death  knell  of  the  hour,  and  seemed  to  say.  Gone  ! 
Gone  !  but  now  that  I  think  it  over,  that  bell  might  have  been  in  a  different  mood  from 
what  I  thought,  for  bells  have  moods,  and  they  weep  and  they  laugh,  and  they  dance,  and 
they  groan.  It  may  be  that  the  resounding  and  overpowering  stroke  in  that  tower  might 
have  been  one  of  invitation,  and  that  because  this  harbor  is  the  ocean  gate  of  an  almost 
infinitude  of  opportunity,  and  the  mines  are  waiting  for  more  crowbars,  and  the  pasturage 
is  waiting  for  more  flocks,  and  the  hillsides  are  waiting  for  more  cities,  and  the  picturesque 
is  waiting  for  more  artists,  and  the  fields  are  waiting  for  more  ploughs,  and  the  printing 
presses  are  waiting  for  more  authors,  and  the  flora  is  waiting  for  more  botanists,  and  the 
skies  are  waiting  for  more  astronomers,  and  the  churches  are  waiting  for  more  worshipers, 
and  these  lands  are  waiting  for  more  occupants,  and  this  harbor  is  waiting  for  more 
merchantmen,  that  the  bell  of  the  post-office  tower  is  really  .sending  forth  a  welcoming  word 
to  the  people  of  all  lands,  and  the  voyagers  on  all  seas,  saying,  "  Come  !    Come  !  Come  !  " 


(I5II 


(n 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

GOLD  !   GOLD!   GOLD  I 

'OULD  you  like  to  go  down  into  one  of  our  gold  mines?"  inquired  of  me  a 
gentleman  of  Australia. 

"  Y-e-s,"  was  my  answer,  slow  and  strewn  all  along  the  beach  of  doubt 
and  uncertainty.  The  fact  was  I  had  remembrances  of  descent  into  a  coal 
mine  of  England  some  fifteen  j'cars  ago,  and  my  memory  of  interrupted  respiration, 
of  the  shock  of  the  sudden  plunge,  and  of  the  unpleasantness  of  both  descent  and  ascent, 
hindered  me  from  a  prompt  and  decisive  affirmative.  But  arrangements  were  made. 
Clergymen  and  prominent  citizens  accompanied  us  to  the  gold  mine.  A  dingy  suit  that 
had  often  been  worn  in  subterranean  exploit  was  offered  us,  and  we  enveloped  ourselves 
from  head  to  toe  in  a  dress  appropriate  but  unhandsome.  We  looked  like  a  group  of  mountain 
bandits,  so  that  when  a  photograph  of  us  was  taken  at  the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  I  asked 
the  artist  if  he  were  not  afraid  we  would  steal  his  camera.  The  nide  and  rough  elevator, 
called  lift  or  cage,  run  by  steam,  was  ready  for  us.  There  were  no  sides  to  the  cage,  but 
there  was  a  central  bar,  and  two  of  us  on  each  side  clinging  to  it.  Cautioned  by  the 
manager  of  the  mine  to  hold  our  shoulders  in  and  hold  fast,  the  machine  began  to  descend. 
It  was  so  dark  we  could  not  see  the  face  opposite  to  us,  though  only  six  inches  away.  Down 
through  layers  of  rock.  Down  under  the  foundations  of  the  hills.  Down  past  rocks  heavy 
enough  to  crush  a  city.  Down  a  hundred  feet,  two  hundred  feet,  three  hundred  feet,  four 
hundred  feet,  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  But  we  started  and  stopped  so  genth-  that  there 
was  neither  jolt  nor  scare.  After  waiting  until  other  machines  brought  down  our  remain- 
ing comrades,  a  candle  was  put  in  the  hand  of  each  of  us.  With  this  light  we  started,  single 
file,  through  the  layers  of  rock  cut  through  panels  of  eternal  darkness,  under  arches  whose 
rafters  were  set  when  the  world  was  made,  and  walls  bearing  the  marks  of  chisel  and  crow- 
bar and  powder  blast  of  many  workmen,  on  and  on,  until  we  came  to  the  foot  of  an  iron 
ladder  and  hand  over  hand  and  foot  over  foot  we  climbed  it,  all  the  time  cautioned  to  keep 
a  firm  hold,  and  not  depend  too  much  on  the  foot,  for  a  mis-step  might  otherwise  land  one 
into  an  abyss  from  which  he  could  not  be  lifted  until  the  earth  itself  splits  open.  Then 
another  iron  ladder,  and  that  ascended,  still  another  ladder.  By  this  time  we  came  to  a 
plank  walk  which  we  followed  until  we  heard  voices  and  the  click  of  instruments,  and  the 
dim  light  in  our  hands  is  responded  to  by  the  flash  of  the  miners'  torches.  Up  in  the  gallery 
of  rock  are  workmen  with  torches  hunting  for  veins  of  gold,  and  striking  into  the  hardness 
with  all  their  might  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  riches.  Down  under  those  depths  I 
asked  the  manager,  "  How  long  do  you  sometimes  work  without  any  good  result?" 

"  Years  and  years,"  was  the  answer. 

"  How  many  hours  a  day  do  these  men  work  ?" 

"  Eight  hours." 

"  Is  it  healthy  work,  I  would  think  the  particles  of  dust  and  stone  would  destroy  their 
lungs  ?" 

"  We  have  old  men  working  here  who  have  been  most  of  their  lives  in  the  mines  and 
they  are  still  in  good  health." 

(152) 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


153 


After  staying  as  long  as  we  wislied,  we  descended  the  ladders,  finding  it  more  difficult 
to  crawl  down  than  crawl  up.  But  candles  above  us  and  candles  beneath  us  show  the  way. 
We  cautiously  follow  the  manager  until  we  reach  the  elevator,  and  four  of  us  in  each  machine 
we  mount.  We  are  glad  to  rise,  for  no  one  w'ants  to  be  buried  alive  even  though  the  sttw 
under  ground  be  tolerable.  As  we  reach  the  light  we  step  out  into  it  with  S}-mpath}'  tor, 
those  who  have  to  earn  their  livelihood  mider  the  flicker  of  the  torch  instead  of  the  steady 
radiance  which  rules  the  dav.  The  gold  mines  have  made  Australia,  and  the  probabilit}'  is 
that  most  of  the  hidden  treasure  is  yet  to  be  brought  to  the  smelters.  In  thirt\-seven  years 
from  .\ustralia  and  New  Zealand  mines,  have  been  brought  up  one  billion  six  hundred  aiVl 


LODDON    FALLS,    NfeW   SOUTH   WALKS. 

fifty  million  dollars.  The  Mount  Morgan  'Mine  has  declared  about  fifteen  million  dollars 
of  dividend.  The  curious  fact  about  this  mine  is  that  a  poor  farmer  had  been  trying  to 
make  a  living  by  cultivating  the  ground,  and  when  the  Morgan  Brothers  offered  him  $3200 
for  it,  he  gladlv  accepted,  but  the  farmer  went  insane  when,  sometime  after,  he  found  that 
the  land  that  he  had  sold  for  $3200  was  sold  for  forty  million  dollars.  There  are  now 
more  than  eighty  gold  fields  in  Australia  and  this  morning  I  read  of  new  fields  dis- 
covered. Ever  and  anon  the  laying  bare  of  these  mineral  resources  will  start  wild 
excitement,  and,  as  someone  has  expressed  it,  "  there  will  be  multitudes  drunk  with 
gold." 


154  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

Other  products  of  Anstrallau  mines  do  not  receive  just  attention.  The  coal  beds  of 
24,000  square  miles,  worked  at  twelve  points,  and  one  year  turning  out  265,000  tons,  make  but 
little  impression.  The  iron  in  all  parts  make  it  probable  that  Australia  will  yet  have  its  Shef- 
fields  and  Birminghanis  of  manufactory,  but  it  is  the  gold  of  i\ustralia  that  makes  the  most 
emphatic  impression  upon  the  world.  The  fact  is  that  gold  belongs  to  the  aristocracy  of  the 
hills  and  is  the  king  of  metals  and  minerals.  The  Iron  says,  "  Hear  me !  I  make  the  rail 
tracks  and  compose  the  wheels  and  own  the  largest  parts  of  the  world's  machinery."  But 
the  Gold  replies,  "  I  form  the  companies  that  command  the  railroads,  and  the  iron  of  all  the 
foundries  and  of  all  the  mills  is  my  servant."  The  Coal  says,  "  Hear  me !  I  heat  the  blast 
furnaces  of  the  factories  that  tumble  and  roar  and  click  with  the  enterprise  of  nations,  and 
with  my  warm  pulsation  in  the  heart  of  steamers  I  trample  oceans,  and  weave  continents 
together."  The  Gold  replies,  "  I  own  the  factories  and  the  steamships  and  the  continents 
they  marry."  The  Silver  says,  "  Hear  me !  I  flash  in  the  cutlery  at  the  banquets.  I  pile 
up  on  the  counters  of  the  world's  commerce.  I  stir  Congresses  and  Parliaments  and 
Reichstags  into  discussion  of  my  value."  "But,"  sa}s  the  Gold,  "my  worth  is  beyond 
discus.sion.  Banks  and  exchanges  and  governments  put  me  first  in  their  estimate.  The 
click  of  my  heel  on  the  floor  of  the  Bourse  and  on  the  pavement  of  Lombard  and  Wall 
streets  wakens  instant  attention.  I  make  the  crowns  of  kings  and  queens,  emperors  and 
empresses,  czars  and  czarinas.  I  am  the  only  metal  that  will  be  able  to  join  the  precious 
stones  in  realms  celestial.  According  to  Apocalyptic  anthem  '  I  pave  the  streets  of 
Heaven.  I  am  the  king  of  metals.  Down  at  my  feet  all  other  values,  all  other  bullions, 
all  the  mines  of  Australia  and  America !  "  As  we  stepped  out  of  the  shaft  of  the  mine 
I  said  to  one  of  the  gentlemen,  "  I  suppose  there  is  more  money  spent  in  working  these 
mines  than  is  ever  taken  out  of  them?"  "Oh,  yes!"  was  the  reply.  Then  I  bethought 
myself,  it  is  so  in  the  gold  regions  of  Colorado,  it  is  so  in  the  silver  mines  of  Nevada. 
Where  one  man  makes  his  fortune  a  hundred  men  lose  all  they  have.  Finding  a  chunk  of 
gold  sends  a  thousand  men  into  insanity.  There  is  more  probability  that  you  will  be  struck 
with  lightning  than  that  you  will  ever  make  anything  out  of  a  gold  mine,  and  there  is  more 
probability  that  you  will  pick  up  a  diamond  off  the  pavement  of  your  city.  In  most  cases 
the  practical  use  of  a  gold  mine  is  to  give  day  laborers  a  chance  for  wages  and  to  distribute 
the  surplus  wealth  of  capitalists  among  those  who  make  the  machinery  and  build  the 
approximate  villages, — the  bakers,  the  plasterers,  the  carpenters,  the  masons,  the  boarding- 
houses  and  the  hotels.  The  sight  of  a  speck  of  gold  in  a  ledge  of  rocks  calls  up  all  the 
evil  spirits  of  gambling.  Men  rush  in  and  buy  tlie  shares,  and  large  dividends  of  expecta- 
tion and  disappointment  are  for  the  most  part  the  only  di\idends  declared  and  delivered. 
If  widows  and  orphans  and  administrators  and  trustees  of  estates  knew  the  average  number 
of  strokes  necessary  to  find  a  piece  of  gold  as  big  as  the  head  of  a  small  pin,  there  would 
be  fewer  bankruptcies  and  fewer  instances  of  turned  brain.  In  most  countries  the  worst 
mine  from  which  to  pick  up  gold  is  a  gold  mine.'  More  of  it  is  turned  up  by  farmer's  plow, 
or  stnick  out  by  mason's  trowel,  or  bored  out  by  carpenter's  bit,  or  found  near  the  brass  head 
of  the  merchant's  counter,  or  turned  out  by  accountant's  pen,  or  flashes  out  with  the  sparks  of 
the  blacksmith's  anvil,  or  blazes  from  the  paragraph  of  a  wit's  coruscations.  There  is  some- 
thing about  the  sight  of  gold  metal  which  fascinates  and  deranges  and  dements.  Fortunate 
thing  it  is  that  so  much  of  the  world's  exchange  is  in  paper  bills,  in  drafts  and  in  checks. 
Many  prosperous  people  see  not  a  particle  of  gold  from  year's  end  to  year's  end.  Paper  money, 
copper  mone\-,  silver  monev  work  not  such  moral  devastation  as  gold  money.  It  is  well 
that  these  substitutes  keep  the  world  from  the  dazzling  eye  of  the  more  precious  metal. 


THE   CASCADE,    LODDON   RIVER,    AUSTRALIA. 


fi55) 


'56 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


A  dementia  born  of  the  gold  mine  is  evident  to  all  who  have  struck  the  regions  auriferous. 
The  gambling  spirit  sweeps  like  a  cyclone  over  such  places.  In  some  places  in  Australia, 
after  the  discovery  of  gold,  it  seemed  almost  necessary  to  declare  martial  law.  People  drop 
their  occupations  and  professions  and  make  a  mad  rush  for  the  enchanted  grounds.  Who 
is  going  to  work  for  ordinary  wages  when  gold  diggers  in  Australia  receive  in  wages  about 
$1900  a  year?  Who  can  be  content  with  investments  that  yield  six  or  ten  per  cent  when 
one  nugget  of  gold  was  sold  at  Sidney  for  $5780  and  a  native  Australian  picks  up,  on  Dr. 
Kerr's  Station,  a  lump  of  gold  worth  $22,500? 

A  man  playing  euchre  with  his  friend  lost  all  his  money,  and  then  put  up  his  shares  in 
an  Australian  mine.      The  successful  player  also  won  them.       This  new  owner  of  the  mine 

went  up  with  a  friend  to  see  the 

"■'.  „..  mine.       On  the  wa}-  back  both 

___  were  taken   ill,  and  the  friend 

,-^-_„3»^  (jjg(j_-      'pjjg  successful  man  at 

euchre  got  well  after  careful 
nursing,  and  he  felt  so  obliga- 
ted to  the  man  who  had  nursed 
him  during  the  illness,  that  he 
gave  him  a  check  for  $75,000,, 
that  being  half  the  value  of  the 
shares  the  convalescent  owned 
in  the  mine,  namely  $150,000. 
Tlie  recklessness  of  those  who 
made  their  money  by  big  chunks,, 
and  the  glitter  of  the  stuff,  and 
the  disappointment  of  those  who 
paid  fabulous  prices  for  shares 
in  mines  which  would  not  yield 
the  worth  of  a  pin  if  worked  a 
thousand  years,  put  multitudes 
into  a  mood  more  adapted  to  the 
madliouse  than  to  freedom  in 
the  open  air.  Geologists  came 
to  settle  things.  They  were 
used  to  turning  leaves  of  rock, 
and  it  was  thought  they  could 
easily  determine  the  home  of 
the  precious  metal.  But  said 
one  of  the  stockholders  yes- 
terday to  me  :  "  We  would  have  been  better  off  up  here  if  we  had  never  seen  a  geologist, 
they  mislead  those  who  trusted  in  them."  From  what  tliis  man  told  me  I  was  persuaded 
that  the  most  ignorant  miner's  crowbar  was  more  apt  to  find  the  gold  than  the  most  educated 
geologist's  hammer.  While  the  scientist  was  asking  where  the  gold  ought  to  be  found,  and 
at  the  shaft  of  the  mine  addressing  the  stockholders  about  Silurian  bedrock,  and  "  oldest 
drift,"  and  "  copper  drift,"  and  "  recent  drift,"  and  "  trachvtic  lava,"  and  "  agglomerites,"  the 
mining  companies  were  losing  their  all,  and  their  dupes  had  taken  the  money  out  of  the 
safe  banks  of  deposit  and  put  it  into  holes  eight  hundi'ed   and  nine  hundred  feet  deep,  for 


TASMAN  S    ARCH. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY.  i57 

ever  to  stay  there.  It  did  not  make  much  difference  to  those  who  lost  their  investments 
whether  the  gold  drift  the  geologists  were  looking  for  belonged  to  the  Pliocene  or  the 
Miocene  period.  One  has  only  to  stand  where  I  stood  to-day  to  scatter  the  notion  that  gold 
is  easilv  picked  up  in  the  gold  regions.  Into  m\-  hand  a  wedge  of  rock  was  placed  with  a 
light  vein  running  through  a  part  of  it.  The  vein  was  gold.  But  the  rock  must  be 
crushed,  the  small  particles  must  be  separated  from  the  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  parts 
which  are  not  gold.  The  gold  must  be  smelted.  It  must  be  assayed.  It  must  be  transported. 
It  nuist  be  put  through  the  mint.  The  machinists,  the  mills,  the  miners,  the  carters,  the 
smelters,  the  assayers,  the  clerks,  the  rents,  the  taxes,  all  suggest  expenditure,  and  when 
that  vast  expenditure  is  subtracted  from  the  few  bright  grains  embodied  in  this  wedge, 
which  the  manager  has  placed  in  my  hands,  there  will  not  be  much  left,  perhaps  there  will 
be  nothing  left.  The  woe  of  Australia  is  the  speculative  spirit.  Australians  will  find  out 
after  awhile  that  the  mine  of  gold  in  these  lands  is  not  a  thousand  feet  down,  but  no  deeper 
than  a  foot  from  the  surface.  It  will  be  found  in  the  potato  hill,  under  the  plow's  furrow, 
and  under  the  peach  tree,  and  under  the  orange  grove,  and  in  the  apple  orchard,  and  in  the 
head  of  wheat,  and  dripping  from  the  sugar-cane,  and  under  the  snow-bank  of  bursting 
cotton  pod.  Agriculture  will  )-et  turn  Australia  into  as  rich  a  farm  field  as  we  have  seen 
since  the  gates  of  Paradise  shut  out  the  original  occupants.  Never  have  I  seen  richer 
ground  for  agriculture.  The  greatest  need  of  Australia  to-day  is  more  population.  I  have 
been  riding  for  two  days  over  lands  which  would  have  all  the  fertility  of  Westchester 
farms  of  New  York,  or  Lancaster  farms  of  Pennsylvania,  or  the  Somerset  farms  of  New 
Jersev,  and  vet  the  occupants  of  most  of  these  Australian  lands  might  be  accommodated  in 
the  one  rail  train  in  which  I  have  been  riding. 

My  own  absorbing  interest  in  the  future  welfare  of  this  land  is  easily  understood  when 
I  tell  vou  that  all  these  colonies  have  been  in  my  pastorate  for  many  )-ears.  Deputations  of 
ministers  at  every  place  we  went  and  people  crowding  to  the  windows  at  the  railway  stations 
tell  me  that  my  sermons  have  been  read  in  the  cabins  and  the  bushes  and  the  mines  as  well 
as  the  villages  and  the  cities.  Enough  encouragement  have  I  received  during  this  Australian 
journey  to  last  me  the  rest  of  my  life.  A  man  who  sits  near  me  while  I  write  tells  me  that 
he  is  an  Anglican,  or  what  we  call  an  Episcopalian,  and  that  for  many  years  he  has  read  my 
sermons  to  crowded  congregations  who  have  assembled  for  worship  on  the  Sabbath  and  that 
he  has  ridden  two  days  on  horseback  and  one  day  by  rail  train  to  attend  my  service  to-morrow. 
Night  after  night  I  confront  audiences  made  up  of  people  who  crowd  the  churches,  and  halls, 
and  academies  of  music,  and  blockade  the  streets,  to  which  outsiders  I  speak  before  and  after 
the  indoor  meeting.  Hour  by  hour  things  are  said  in  the  way  of  thanks  and  concerning 
cases  of  comfort  and  reformation  and  destiny  which  I  would  not  dare  to  repeat  either  by 
tongue  or  pen  lest  I  be  misunderstood,  but  no  one  can  stand  in  the  relation  I  have  stood  to 
these  colonies  for  more  than  twenty  years  without  feeling  a  profound  interest  in  their 
welfare — domestic,  social,  moral  and  spiritual.  I  have  been  in  two  months  of  hearty  salutation, 
and,  from  what  I  hear,  it  will  continue  until,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month,  I  step  aboard 
the  steamer  at  Adelaide,  my  last  place  of  Australian  visit,  and  beg  the  Southern  and  Indian 
Oceans  to  let  me  pass  safely  to  what  are  called  in  the  Missionary  hymn  "  Ceylon's  isle  "  and 
"  India's  coral  strand,"  wdien  I  will  have  accomplished  at  least  one-half  of  my  journey 
around  the  globe. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  BAKED   MISSIONARY. 

'■  >  y  ^  E  had  just  got  off  the  locomotive  of  the  rail  train  where  we  had  been  riding  for 
Mm  T  many  miles  in  conversation  with  the  engineer  and  had  re-entered  the  carriage 
■  i  I  of  the  train,  when  a  clergyman  got  into  the  same  car  with  us.  He  had  been  a 
^'^^'^^      missionary  among  the  Fijis,  and  the  following  conversation  took  place  between  us. 

Question  :  How  long  were  you  in  the  Fiji  Islands? 

Anszvcr :  Fifteen  years. 

Question  :  Did  you  have  any  experience  with  the  cannibals  ? 

Answer:  Yes,  I  was  appointed  to  fill  the  place  of  a  minister  who  had  been  killed  and 
then  baked  and  then  eaten.  Having  knocked  him  on  the  head  they  tied  his  arms  around 
his  knees  and  put  him  in  an  oven.  When  I  arrived  in  the  Island  I  was  greeted  by  a  message 
from  some  of  the  Fijis  saying  "  Tell  him  to  come  up  and  we  will  eat  him." 

Question  :  Did  you  go  alone  to  the  Fiji  Station? 

Answer:  No;  I  was  married  just  before  leaving  England,  and  I  took  my  young  wife 
with  me. 

Question :  How  did  your  wife  like  the  idea  of  such  a  honeymoon  ? 

Answer :  She  did  not  like  much  to  go  to  the  Fijis,  but  she  went. 

Question :  Did  you  have  any  narrow  escapes  from  the  cannibals  ? 

Answer :  Yes,  plans  were  laid  for  my  taking  off  during  the  night,  as  I  was  to  preach  in 
one  of  the  settlements  during  the  evening.  But  I  saw  ominous  signs.  There  were 
whisperings  and  looks  askance,  and  going  to  and  fro,  that  made  me  feel  I  was  in  peril.  So  I 
told  the  chief  that  I  could  not  wait  until  night  but  must  preach  immediately  in  the  afternoon. 
I  therefore  conducted  service  and  before  night  departed.  I  found  afterward  that  all 
arrangements  had  been  made  for  killing  me  that  night,  and  when  I  passed  by  another  tribe 
they  expressed  surprise  at  seeing  me,  saying  "  You  were  to  be  killed  and  eaten  to-night." 

Question :  Was  it  an  especial  fondness  for  the  taste  of  human  flesh  that  led  them  to 
devour  a  human  being  ? 

Answer :  Not  that  alone,  but  revenge  also.  They  had  that  way  for  expressing  their 
contempt  and  hatred  for  an  enemy.  The  most  triumphant  boast  a  Fiji  could  make  was 
to  say  to  anyone  "  I  ate  your  father." 

Question :  I  suppose  missionary  life  among  the  Fijis  was  a  sacrifice? 

Anszver :  Yes,  among  the  greatest  trials  was  that  we  had  to  be  physicians  for  our  own 
families.  The  Fiji  treatment  of  sickness  was  cruel  and  senseless.  Wherever  there  was  a 
pain  they  felt  they  must  stick  something  sharp  into  it  from  the  outside.  Although  we  had 
had  no  medical  training  we  had  to  attend  our  families  in  the  most  serious  crises.  Vl\  first 
child  was  lost  and  she  could  have  been  saved  by  a  doctor. 

Question:  Did  the  Fijis  know  anything  about  kindness? 

Answer :  Oh,  yes  !  They  could  not  do  enough  for  you  in  the  way  of  kindness.  They 
would  entertain  you  beautifully  often  in  the  early  part  of  the  very  night  when  they  were 
for  some  good  reason,  as  they  thought,  to  jsut  you  to  death. 

Question  :  Were  they  affectionate  ? 

(158) 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


^59 


Answer:  Yes,  when  I  left  the  island  they  came  out  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  to 
see  me  off,  and  they  bewailed  and  lamented  and  howled  at  my  going  until  I  asked  them  to 
suppress  their  crying,  as  the  noise  would  wake  up  the  passengers  on  the  ship. 

Question:  Wh}-  did  they  kill,  and  bake,  and  eat  your  predecessor? 

Atisiver :  Because  he  went  to  a  tribe  without  a  proper  introduction  by  the  chief  of 
another  tribe.  The  chief  felt  that  he  was  ignored  and  sent  word  to  the  tribe  to  which  the 
missionary  had  gone  that  he  must  be  killed  for  this  offence. 


CORABBOREE,    OR   NATIVE   DA^•CE,    AUSTRALIA. 

The  Australian  and  Tasmanian  aborigrJnes  execute  a  dance  called  the  corahhotee,  in  which  they  imitate  the  frog  and  kangaroo, 
both  leaping  animals.  In  this  dance  the  party,  composed  of  men  entirely,  form  themselves  in  a  circle  and  in  a  stooping  posture,  with 
hands  upon  each  other's  hips  ;  they  move  by  a  succession  of  leaps,  accompanying  their  movements  with  grunts  and  gruff  exclamations. 

Question  :  Is  there  any  cannibalism  practiced  now  in  the  Fiji  Islands? 

Anszcer :  No,  all  such  things  have  ceased.  Even,'  evil  custom  has  been  abolished. 
The  people  are  civilized  and  Christianized.  There  is  no  place  in  the  world  where  our 
religion  is  more  thorougly  triumphant. 

When  in  conversation  I  looked  at  this  returned  missionary,  I  said  within  myself.  That 
is  a  hero  worthy  of  coronation.  What  prowess,  what  self-sacrifice  must  have  been  required 
for  such  missionary  life  !  And  can  any  appreciation  for  such  men  be  too  great,  any  monu- 
ment for  theni  be  too  lofty,  any  epitaph  be  too  eulogistic,  or  any  throne  in  heaven  be  too 
resplendent  ? 

Now  this  ston,-  of  baked  missionary  might  excite  astonishment  in  civilized  lands,  but 
things  just  as  bad  as  this  are  transpiring  in  England  and  America,  in  the  matter  of  unjust 
and  cruel  treatment  of  good  men.     "  ^lay  I  speak  to  you,"  said  an  elderly  gentleman,  as  I 


i6o  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

stood  in  the  Australian  hotel  with  Colonel  Bell,  our  American  Consul,  who  has  thrilled 
these  colonies  with  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  eloquent  speeches  ever  delivered  on 
either  side  the  equator.  I  said  to  the  stranger  addres.sing  me,  "  You  may  speak  with  me  a 
minute,  but  an  especial  boat  is  under  sail  to  take  Colonel  Bell  and  myself  for  further  revela- 
tion of  the  beauties  of  Sydney  harbor,  and  I  can  speak  with  you  only  a  minute."  But  the 
conversation  proposed  took  a  good  deal  more  time  than  a  minute,  for  it  was  the  revelation 
of  a  tragedy  in  an  American  minister's  life,  as  dramatic  as  anything  I  have  ever  heard.  For 
good  reasons  I  substitute  fictitious  proper  names  for  the  names  he  gave  me.  He  said  in 
substance  : 

"  You  must  have  heard  of  an  American  clergymen,  over  thirty  years  ago,  arrested  for 
murder,  and  imprisoned  and  tried  and  cleared."  I  said,  "I  don't  remember  such  a  case." 
Then  in  substance  he  went  on  to  say,  "  I  was  pastor  of  a  large  church  which  was  thronged 
with  people,  and  this  excited  the  jealousy  always  aroused  against  one  who  has  an  audience 
unusual  for  size.  There  were  two  brothers  in  the  county  by  the  names  of  John  and  Henry 
Haggard.  John  was  an  elder  in  my  church.  Henry  had  a  deadly  hatred  against  John 
because  in  the  distribution  of  their  father's  propert\-,  John  had  received  what  he  considered 
a  more  valuable  portion,  a  village  afterward  being  built  on  his  part  of  the  estate.  The 
prosperity  of  John  Haggard  and  my  prosperity  as  his  pastor,  set  Henry  to  work  to  destroy 
me.  My  wife,  a  splendid  woman,  after  three  years  of  illness  and  dementia,  committed 
suicide. 

"  Three  months  passed  and  Henry  Haggard,  in  a  railroad  train,  said  to  his  friends  that 
I  had  murdered  my  wife.  He  published  a  leaflet  with  the  same  purpose,  and  under  the 
advice  of  friends  I  brought  a  libel  suit  against  him.  Going  into  the  printing  office  of  a 
neighboring  town  I  confronted  Henry  Haggard  and  called  him  by  name.  He  said  he  did 
not  know  me.  I  said,  '  I  know  you,'  and  turning  to  the  printer  I  asked,  '  Can  you  tell  me 
who  employed  you  to  publish  this  leaflet?'  'I  can  tell  you.'  '  Who  employed  you?'! 
asked,  and  he  replied,  pointing  to  Henry  Haggard,  '  He  did ! '  My  evidence  of  his 
authorship  was  thus  complete.  Henry  Haggard  then  went  home  and  without  any  author- 
ization employed  a  doctor  by  the  name  of  Hildebrand,  from  a  distant  city,  to  exhume  my 
wife's  bod>-  and  examine  it.  This  physician  reported  that  she  had  died  not  by  suicide  but 
by  strangulation  effected  by  other  than  her  own  hands.  This  physician  said  he  had  taken 
with  him  for  evidence  both  her  lungs.  I  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  until  I  could  get 
bail.  I  then  had,  unknown  to  outsiders,  my  wife's  body  exhumed  and  examined  by  three 
of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  America.  They  found  that  the  aforesaid  physician  who 
had  made  the  exhumation,  and  said  that  he  had  taken  the  two  lungs  had  removed  only  one 
lung,  and  that  the  lung  left  gave  positive  evidence  that  there  had  been  no  strangulation. 
The  trial  came  on.  Tlie  doctor  who  first  exhumed  the  body  of  my  wife  was  put  on  the 
witness  stand.  He  testified  that  he  had  both  lungs  in  his  possession  and  that  they  showed 
])ositive  evidence  of  strangulation.  Then  my  attorne\-,  who  was  afterward  a  Senator  of 
the  United  States,  undertook  the  cross-examination  and  said,  '  Doctor,  did  you  examine  both 
lungs  of  the  deceased  and  find  evidence  of  strangulation?'  The  witness  answered  'Yes.' 
'Did  you  take  both  lungs  with  you?'  'I  did.'  'You  are  sure  30U  took  away  both 
lungs?'  'Yes.'  'You  swear  to  that?'  'I  do.'  'Now,'  said  my  attorney,  rising  to  his 
feet,  livid  with  rage  and  thundering  at  the  witness,  '  do  you  not  know  that  three  of  the 
most  eminent  physicians  of  the  land  went  to  that  woman's  grave  and  exhumed  the  body 
and  found  that  you  left  one  lung  and  that  that  lung  shows  positive  evidence  that  strangula- 
tion did  not  take  place  and  that  we  have  that  lung  in  the  court-room  and  that  here  it  is  ? ' 


*••. 


^ 


ii 


siNCALU-Si:.  uiA.cxK.—J-'iviu  a  Photogi aph. 


(i60 


i62  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

The  witness  was  overwhelmed.  The  court  wah  indignant.  The  three  eminent  doctors  were 
present  to  give  testimony  that  the  charge  against  me  was  ontrageons  and  damnable,  and  the 
Judge  said,  'I  dismiss  the  case.  In  all  the  annals  of  jurisprudence  I  never  knew  anything 
so  nefarious  as  the  persecution  of  this  minister  of  the  gospel.  Adjourn  the  court!'  I 
resumed  my  pulpit,  my  congregation  unanimously  standing  by  me.  To  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  law-suit  and  the  trial,  John  Haggard  paid  $21,000  out  of  his  own  pocket.  I  was 
triumphant,  and  all  good  f)eople  everywhere  rejoiced  with  me.  But  the  strain  on  my  nerves 
had  been  too  great.  The  eminent  Rev.  Dr.  Brainard  invited  me  to  take  a  church  in  Phila- 
delphia, thinking  that  change  of  scene  would  recuperate  me.  I  assumed  the  Philadelphia 
charge,  but  my  health  was  too  much  broken  to  keep  it.  Then  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  the 
world-renowned  commentator,  advised  me  to  take  for  recuperation  a  long  sea  voyage.  I 
took  it.  I  am  here  in  Australia  living  a  quiet  life,  unable  to  do  work  of  any  kind,  but  I 
have  some  means  left  and  so  I  will  stay  here  and  spend  the  rest  of  my  days." 

So  ended  the  strange  story  !  I  stood  amazed  and  aghast,  looking  at  the  narrator.  My 
sympathies  for  the  man  were  wrung  out.  He  wanted  no  help,  but  just  the  relief  of  telling 
the  stor\-.  A  splendid  man  blasted  by  scandalization !  A  victim  on  the  holocaust  of 
revenge  !  A  deed  of  barbarism  encouraged  in  a  Christian  coirntry !  A  diabolism  worthy 
of  perdition  !  An  exile  from  home  and  country  to  live  and  die  among  strangers !  What 
better  is  that  ministerial  sacrifice  than  the  one  I  have  just  told  about  baked  missionary. 
The  Fiji  oven  was  more  merciful  than  the  furnace  of  spite  into  which  this  American 
clergyanan  was  thrown  and  fastened.  How  many  lives  have  been  ruined  by  devilish  perse- 
cution? Ovens  for  baking  such  victims,  clerical  and  lay,  are  always  heated!  The  fires 
in  them  are  always  stirred !  The  fuel  for  kindling  them  is  always  at  hand.  Baked 
missionaries!  Baked  pastors!  Baked  officials!  Baked  merchants!  Baked  mechanics! 
Baked  farmers  !  Australia  has  more  men  with  graphic  and  startling  history  than  any  land 
with  the  same  number  of  people.  Many  strong  natures  despairing  of  any  peace  in  their 
own  land,  and  tired  of  the  injustices  of  the  world,  have  retreated  to  this  land  and  have  here 
found  that  quiet  and  freedom  from  pursuit  which  they  never  could  have  found  in  their  own 
land.  The  fact  is  that  many  good  men  have  always  been  misunderstood  and  always  will  be 
misunderstood,  and  some  of  them  have  been  wise  enough  to  give  up  the  work  of  useless 
explanation,  and  have  taken  themselves  to  "  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth."  I  admire 
them  for  that  they  had  the  courage  and  the  perseverance  and  the  intelligence  to  cross  the 
seas,  and  among  strangers  begin  anew  under  other  auspices.  God  help  the  voluntary  exiles 
all  the  world  over !  They  may  be  far  from  the  cradles  in  which  they  were  rocked  for  their 
earlv  slumbers,  and  from  the  graves  where  their  parents  repose  in  the  last  slumber,  but  the 
unloosed  and  winged  spirits  of  their  ancestors  will  hover  over  them  whether  on  this  or 
the  other  side  of  the  Pacific,  whether  north  or  south  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  Wliy  do  not 
some  of  my  readers  who  are  hemmed  in  and  crowded  by  circumstances  and  buffetted  with 
enemies  who  are  all  the  time  heading  you  off,  pick  up  your  valuables,  tell  your  wife  to  go 
up  and  kiss  the  old  folks  "Good-bye,"  and  take  your  ticket  for  some  of  these  regions  where 
you  can  have  five  hundred  acres  at  less  expense  than  you  can  have  a  city  back-yard,  and 
turn  your  children  among  the  lambs,  and  live  in  a  climate  where  the  winter  is  so  mild  it 
kills  neither  the  grass  nor  the  flowers  ? 

In  all  these  Australian  latitudes  I  find  men  who  were  so  strong  as  to  take  such  a 
decisive  step  and  their  heroism  has  already  been  rewarded.  But  many  cannot  leave  their 
native  land,  and  exchange  the  scene  of  persecution  and  strife  for  antipodean  release,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  self-expatriated  minister  whom  I  have  mentioned.      Antagonisms  are  almost 


I 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


ibi 


always  aroused  by  jealousies.  Some  one  has  more  mone}'  or  more  power  or  more  social 
position  or  more  office  than  we  have.  We  must  get  even  with  him  somehow.  If  we 
cannot  get  the  office  he  occupies  we  will  make  him  uncomfortable  while  he  occupies  it. 
If  we  cannot  get  as  much  money  as  he  gets  we  will  at  any  rate  start  the  suspicion  that  he 
obtained  it  dishonestly.  If  we  cannot  climb  as  high  as  he,  we  will  anxiously  wait  till  he 
starts  down  hill  and  then  we  will  help  him  in  the  precipitation.  If  he  be  too  strong  to 
grapple  with,  we  will  at  any  rate  have  the  satisfaction  of  making  mouths  at  his  sister.  In 
contrast  with  the  wrongs  and  injustices  inflicted  in  Christian  lan'"1s  by  the  world's  jealousies 
cannabilism  seems  less  reprehensible.  The  tortures  of  barbarism  were  less  severe  than 
the  tortures  of  civilization.  Rather  than  endure  the  scalding  waters  and  red-hot  gridirons 
of  persecution  which  I  have  seen  many  innocent  and  lovely  men  and  women  in  America 
suffer,  I  would  prefer  the  fate  of  some  of  those  excellent  men  who,  gone  among  the  Fiji 
Islanders  to  benefit  and  save  them,  ha\'e  been  knocked  on  the  head,  and  fastened,  and 
with  their  arms  bound  round  their  knees,  take  the  fate  of  the  cue  described  at  the  opening 
of  this  letter,  and  become  a  Baked  Missionar\-. 


CROSSING   THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS. 


CHAPTER  XV, 

THE  SHEEP  BEFORE  HER  SHEARER. 

OHE  most  beautiful,  tender  and  suggestive  industry  of  Australia  is  sheep  raising. 
Only  tweut\'-nine  sheep  were  landed  from  the  ship  of  the  first  expedition  that 
came  up  S>'dne}-  harbor,  and  now  there  are  about  a  hundred  million  in 
Australia.  The  climate,  the  herbage,  the  absence  of  wild  beasts,  make  this 
countr}-  the  best  sheep  home  in  all  the  world.  In  1890  when  there  were  forty-two  million 
sheep  in  America  there  were  one  hundred  and  sixteen  million  in  Australia.  In  1889 
Australia  produced  three  hundred  and  forty  million  pounds  of  wool.  What  a  contribution  the 
sheep  make  to  the  warmth  and  comfort  and  luxury  of  the  world  !  What  other  creature  of 
God  gives  so  much  for  the  little  it  receives.  For  the  grass  it  nibbles,  most  of  it  wild  grass, 
paying  in  mutton  and  lamb  chops,  and  clothing  material,  which  keeps  the  factories  ahum 
and  enable  the  human  race  to  be  defiant  of  the  cold.  If  sheep  ever  think  at  all  what  an 
idea  thev  must  have  of  the  meanness  of  the  human  race  to  take  the  covering  from  the 
back  of  sheephood  and  put  it  upon  the  back  of  manhood.  And  }-et  we  all  have  something 
that  ought  to  be  given  to  somebody  else.  The  fact  is  that  the  most  of  what  we  have  we 
eet  from  others.  From  others  all  srood  influences  under  which  we  started  life,  others 
construct  our  houses,  others  build  our  rail  tracks  and  control  our  rail  trains,  others  organize 
the  go\-ernment  under  which  we  live,  others  execute  the  laws  that  give  us  safety-,  others 
rock  our  cradle,  others  will  dig  our  grave.  We  sit  down  at  our  table  for  ordinary  food,  and 
workers  of  the  mine  furnish  us  our  salt,  and  workers  of  the  potter\-  furnish  us  our  cups, 
and  workers  in  the  refiner>-  furnish  us  our  sugar,  and  workers  in  the  fields  of  Java  or 
China  furnish  us  our  coffee  and  tea,  and  the  poulterer  furnishes  us  the  chicken,  and  the 
butcher  furnishes  us  the  beef,  and  the  olive  vineyard  the  oil,  and  the  reaper  of  the  wheat 
field  the  bread,  and  the  rice  swamps  of  Carolina  the  pudding,  and  the  orchards  the  fruits. 
It  takes  the  whole  world  to  furnish  us  with  a  breakfast  or  a  supper.  Come  to  think  of  it  a 
sheep  does  no  more  by  yielding  its  wool  than  we  do.  We  yield  for  others  our  strength,  or 
our  thought,  or  our  help.  We  ha\-e  all  been  sheared  for  others.  Are  we  as  patient  as  these 
sheep  of  Australia  inider  the  shearer,  or  do  we  kick  and  bleat,  and  resist  and  struggle? 
One  of  the  great  sheep-raisers  of  Australia  told  me  he  had  30,000  sheep  on  40,000  acres, 
while  others  own  100,000  sheep.  His  place  is  for  sale,  and  now  is  your  chance.  This  man 
told  me  that  the  taking  of  the  tariff  off  the  wool  a  few  days  ago  by  the  American  Congress 
increased  the  value  of  the  wool  here  a  cent  a  pound.  We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  sheep 
shearing  in  parts  of  Australia.  But  what  a  different  process  it  is  from  that  which  many 
of  us  boys  found  in  America.  In  those  days  first  came  the  washing  of  the  sheep  in  the 
river,  and  the  struggle  as  to  who  ought  to  go  under  the  water — ourselves  or  the  sheep.  And 
then  thirty  or  forty  sheep  all  sheared  by  slow  process.  Now  here  it  is  done  b\'  machinery, 
and  tens  of  thousands  pass  under  the  machine.  The  poor  creature  is  flung  upon  its  back, 
and  its  head  taken  between  the  knees  of  the  operator.  The  shearing  apparatus  is  hung 
overhead,  and  by  an  air  pressure  through  a  tube  of  gutta  percha  acts  upon  a  comb  through 
which  a  cutter  passes  back  and  forth  four  thousand  times  a  minute,  and  this  instrument 
running  along  the   sheep-skin    remo\-es   the  wool  with   great   speed.       At  first  the  machine 

(164) 


(i65) 


i66  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

lacerated  the  sheep,  but  now  it  works  with  a  precision  and  efficiency  and  harnilessness 
wonderful.  The  poor  animal  lies  quietly  under  the  process,  not  a  struggle,  or  even  a  sound 
of  hard  breathing.  The  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb.  The  sharp  but  safe  instrument 
finds  its  wav  through  the  rich  fleece  which  rolls  back  and  off  and  down.  Fold  after  fold 
until  the  spoils  of  the  flock  are  piled  up  into  great  mounds  for  cartage  and  transportation, 
and  the  animal  robbed  of  its  wardrobe  goes  forth  to  grow  upon  its  back  another  harvest  for 
its  owner.  There  is  to  me  a  pathos  in  such  scenes,  and  I  wonder  not  that  some  shepherds 
are  the  tenderest  and  best  of  men.  We  have  celebrated  the  victories  of  the  sword.  It  is 
high  time  some  one  celebrated  the  victories  of  the  shears.  They  put  their  captured  wealth 
at  the  feet  of  nations.  The  sound  of  their  grinding  blades  is  heard  in  the  grand  march 
of  the  world's  progress.  May  the  shears  of  Australia  have  more  and  more  conquests  !  And 
God  speed  them  as  they  go  forth  on  their  mission  to  clothe  and  adorn  and  beautify  the 
world ! 

The  Australian  pastoralists'  or  sheep-raisers'  life  is  not  all  poetic.  This  man  of  whom 
I  speak  told  me  that  a  few  days  ago  he  was  passing  through  a  room  of  his  house  and  his  foot 
got  tangled  in  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  garment  of  his  child.  After  awhile  he  got  his  foot 
out  and  what  he  supposed  to  be  his  child's  garment  he  found  was  a  death  adder.  He  then 
stamped  on  it  and  the  adder  stuck  its  fangs  into  his  shoe,  but  it  did  not  reach  the  flesh  or  he 
would  have  died  in  a  few  minutes.  The  fact  is  there  are  more  snakes  in  .\ustralia  than  seem 
to  be  necessary-.  The  curator  of  a  museum  reports  that  just  outside  one  of  the  Australian 
cities  he  found  in  the  woods  nineteen  different  species  of  snakes — a  fact  that  might  be  very 
interesting  for  the  naturalist  but  not  pleasant  to  the  tourist.  South  Australia  has  fifteen 
species  of  snakes,  Victoria  has  twelve.  New  South  Wales  thirty-one,  Queensland  forty-one, 
and  any  one  who  likes  snakes,  or  desires  to  study  their  habits,  will  find  entertainment  here. 
But  I  know  men  who,  in  America,  after  too  prolonged  and  intense  conviviality,  have  seen  forty 
snakes  without  crossing  the  Pacific  seas  to  find  them.  The  adder  which  the  sheep-raiser  ran 
his  foot  against  has  led  me  into  this  paragraph  about  snakedom.  Now  while  I  write,  the 
newspapers  are  full  of  sheep-shearing  strikes.  The  shearers  have  stopped  work  all  up  and 
down  Australia  because  of  the  controversy  between  the  pastoralists  and  the  shearers. 
Combined  em plo>-ers  versus  combined  laborers  !  As  usual  the  strikers  are  getting  the  worst 
of  it,  because  the  pastoralists  have  means  and  can  fall  back  upon  old  resources  while  the 
shearers  have  no  aforetime  accumulations.  Why  this  fight  not  only  in  Australia  but  all 
around  the  world  ?  Because  capital  and  labor  do  not  understand  the  principle  recognized  by 
a  manufacturer  whom  I  met  in  Canada  seven  or  eight  years  ago  when  there  were  many 
strikes  throughout  Canada  and  the  United  .States. 

I  knew  he  had  thousands  of  men  in  his  manufacturing  establishments  and  I  said  to  him 
"  Have  you  had  any  strikes  in  your  factories  ?  "  He  said  "  I  never  had  any  strikes,  nor  will 
I  have  any,"  I  asked  "How  do  yon  avoid  them?"  He  .said  "When  I  find  my  income 
decreasing  and  there  is  no  such  demand  for  my  goods  as  previously,  and  I  am  losing  money, 
I  call  my  men  together.  I  have  a  room  in  the  factory  for  that  purpose.  I  .say  to  them, 
'  Men,  I  have  called  vou  together  for  consultation.  You  know  I  have  my  money  in  these 
factories.  I  don't  of  course  do  business  for  fun.  I  ought  to  have  a  certain  income  from 
these  factories.  Now  I  have  so  much  money  invested.  I  pay  out  for  machinery  so  much,  I 
pay  for  taxes  so  much,  I  pay  for  wages  so  much.  You  see  here  the  aggregate.  Now  I  am 
receiving  so  much.  You  see  there  is  a  deficit.  I  am  losing  money  or  getting  so  little  it 
doesn't  seem  worth  my  going  on.  What  shall  I  do?  Shall  I  run  these  factories  on  half 
time,  or  shall  I  stop  altogether,  or  shall  I  go  on  losing  money?     You  are  common  sense  men 


i68  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

and  I  ask  for  your  advice.'  Then  I  wait  for  a  few  moments  while  there  is  a  dead  halt.  Then 
there  is  a  whispering  among  the  men.  After  awhile  one  of  them  rises  and  says,  '  Boys,  you 
see  how  the  matter  stands.  It  would  be  a  bad  thing  to  have  the  business  stopped  or  even 
run  on  half  time.  I  move  that  we  throw  off  ten  per  cent  from  our  wages.  What  do  you 
think  ?  '  '  Aye  !  Aye  ! '  shout  all  the  voices,  and  thev  wind  up  by  sa^'ing,  '  three  cheers  for 
the  boss  !  '  Time  passes  on,  and  there  is  an  increased  demand  for  my  goods  and  I  am  making 
money  rapidly.  I  call  my  employes  together  in  the  aforesaid  room  and  I  say  to  them,  '  Men 
I  have  good  news  for  you.  Business  has  revived,  and  I  am  making  money.  As  you  were 
kind  enough  to  throw  off  ten  per  cent  from  your  wages  when  things  were  down  I  have 
called  you  together  to  say  that  I  do  not  need  that  reduction  any  longer.  I  will  give  }ou  the 
old  time  pay.  Do  you  think  you  can  stand  it  ?  '  and  they  say  '  Yes  !  )'es  !  three  cheers  and 
a  tiger  for  the  boss. '  " 

The  Canadian  manufacturer  is  not  a  Christian  man,  and  is  so  far  from  that,  that  I 
understand  he  uses  language  objuratory,  but  he  consults  his  men  in  that  way  from  purely 
worldly  policy.  That  theory  carried  out  would  put  an  end  to  all  strikes.  The  trouble  is 
that  employers  are  reticent  and  mysterious,  and  their  laborers  think  the  capitalists  are  making 
fabulous  sums  of  money  when  they  are  making  little  or  nothing.  Let  all  employers  take 
their  employes  into  their  confidence  and  the  world  will  soon  attend  the  funeral  of  the  last 
strike. 

There  is  something  so  human  about  the  sheep  I  cannot  help  being  interested  in  them. 
It  is  soothing  and  helpful  to  walk  among  these  flocks.  Though  the  pastoralists  pulled  back 
the  wool  of  the  sheep  and  showed  me  a  fleece  at  least  twelve  inches  long,  the  advantage  I 
gained  was  not  so  many  pennies  a  pound,  but  in  sentiment  and  moralization  and  suggestive- 
ness.  Then  the  pharmacy  of  the  sheepfold  is  very  much  like  the  pharmacy  of  the  Inunan 
family.  The  diseases  of  the  sheep  are  about  the  same  as  those  that  affect  our  race,  and  they 
have  asthma,  and  pleurisy,  and  erysipelas,  and  sore  throat,  and  rheumatism,  and  peritonitis, 
and  bronchitis,  and  paralysis,  and  apoplexy,  and  nervous  prostration.  Sheepology  is  a  very 
interesting  study.  I  am  not  surprised  that  in  ancient  sacrifices  it  was  used  as  typical,  or  that 
musical  instruments  were  made  out  of  ranis'  horns,  or  that  the  lamb  has  always  been  a 
symbol  of  gentleness,  or  that  among  the  pictures  of  the  domain  celestial  there  is  a  "  Lamb 
in  the  midst  of  the  Throne."  Although  the  old  time  shepherd  is  not  needed  here,  as  a 
wire  fence  sweeps  round  for  miles,  enclosing  the  sheep  in  what  is  called  a  paddock,  yet  these 
sheep-raisers  necessarily  pass  most  of  their  daj's  under  the  open  skies  and  face  to  face  with 
the  natural  world.  About  the  men  who  own  these  flocks  of  sheep  I  have  to  say  that  for 
the  most  part  they  are  a  stalwart  race.  Indeed  that  is  for  the  most  part  characteristic  of  the 
Australians  descended  from  those  who  came  out  here  in  the  early  days.  Not  only  are  the 
present  pastoralists  and  farmers  stout  and  strong  by  the  healthy  life  they  are  compelled  to 
live  in  the  open  air,  but  they  have  inherited  the  brawn  and  muscle  of  those  who  dared  the 
seas  for  six  or  nine  months  in  order  to  reach  these  colonies  from  England,  Scotland  and 
other  European  lands.  The  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  of  these  occupants  of  the  soil 
were  heroes  and  heroines  of  endurance,  and  the  descendants  of  such  men  and  women  partake 
of  the  strength  of  their  ancestry.  After  a  country  has  long  been  .settled  houses  become  too 
warm,  and  luxuries  become  too  abundant,  and  dissipations  become  too  rampant,  and  the 
race  is  apt  to  be  enervated.  But  the  present  men  and  women  of  Australia  have  the  advan- 
tage of  the  compelled  struggle  of  the  past,  and  are  not  yet  far  enough  down  in  the  ancestral 
line  to  have  been  submerged  with  the  weaknesses  of  refined  civilization.  It  is  an  advantage 
to  every  family  at  some  time  in  its  histor\-  to  have  had  a  long  chapter  of  outdoor  life,  such 


I 


170 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


as  that  which  the  Australian  pastoraUsts  and  farmers  liave  been  compelled  to  endure.  Oaks 
are  not  born  in  hot -houses.  David's  life  as  a  shepherd  helped  to  fit  him  for  the  life  of  the 
palace.  Our  world  itself  was  rocked  into  its  present  beauty  b\-  a  cradle  of  earthquake. 
Continued  health  I  wish  to  these  men  of  outdoor  life  in  .\ustralia.  May  their  flocks 
increase,  and  the  droughts  which  sometimes  slay  millions  of  sheep  in  a  season  be  arrested 
in  their  consuming  power,  and  every  lonely  watcher  of  the  Australian  flocks  have  the 
companionship  of  Him  who  inspired  the  watcher  of  sheep  to  write,  thousands  of  years  ago, 
"  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,"  and  realize  in  each  hardship  of  pastoral  life  the  protection  of 
Him  whom  the  dramatist  describes  as  "  tempering  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,"  and 
possess  the  patience  under  all  the  trials  of  colonial  life  of  Him  of  whom  it  was  said,  "  As  a 
sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth  ! " 


>H»£\^0^ 


\  \\'I7  ^- 


£%/ 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

CHAINS  AND    EXILE. 

y^-^^  UTTING  his  foot  amid   acacias,  and  honeysuckle,  and  lilies,  and  waratahs,  and 
*"^         ■      ferns,  and  aniaryillis,  and  orchids,  as  he  landed,  Captain  Cook  called  this  place 

^s^^      Botany  Bay  because  it  would  be  a  good   region   for  botanists  to  study  the  flora. 
«  ^  What  a  shame  that  it  should,  in  the  minds  of  nations,  be  associated  with  crime  1 

To  be  sentenced  to  Botany  Bay  from  England  was  considered  like  being  sentenced  to  Drv 
Torturas  from  the  United  States.  It  meant  exiled  villainy.  The  fact  is,  that  though  this 
place  had  the  reputation  of  a  penal  colony,  the  convicts  of  England  were  not  sent  here  at 
all,  but  to  places  approximate.  But  while  the  world  stands,  Botany  Bay  will  mean  the  ter- 
minus of  criminal  transportation.  No  one  can  visit  Australia  without  thinking  of  the  times 
when  the  chains  clanked  as  pri.soners  disembarked  for  lifetime  banishment.  Misery  and 
mercy  fought  for  supremacy  in  this  colony  from  1788,  when  Australia  became  the  place  of 
punishment  for  unfortunate  Englishmen,  until  1840,  when  such  transportation  was  pro- 
hibited. But  after  fifty-two  years  mercy  triumphed,  and  happy  homes  and  literary  institu- 
tions now  stand  on  the  places  where  for  half  a  century  tragedies  of  suffering  and  outrage 
were  enacted.  For  the  most  trivial  offences,  for  misappropriation  of  a  chicken,  for  breaking 
of  a  window  glass,  for  abstraction  of  a  loaf  of  bread  by  a  hungry  man,  for  a  defamatory 
word  spoken,  for  the  slightest  stumble  in  morals,  men  were  sent  from  England  to  Australia, 
never  to  return.  If  a  man  had  enemies,  they  would  conspire  and  for  little  dereliction,  or  no 
dereliction  at  all,  get  him  shipped  for  these  "ends  of  the  earth."  The  convict  ships  were 
floating  prisons,  many  of  them  commanded  by  fiends,  and  the  asphyxiation  from  lack  of 
fresh  air,  and  the  whip  or  shackle  or  bludgeon  blow  given  for  the  slightest  protest,  and  the 
sicknesses  that  ravaged  the  rough  bunks,  made  the  ocean  voyage  an  agony  that  shocked  the 
heavens.  The  albatrosses  and  seagulls  heard  such  groans  as  must  have  made  them  halt  on 
their  wings.  Sixteen  inches  of  room  for  a  man.  One  hundred  and  seventy-eight  men  in  a 
space  of  fifty  feet  !  Landed  in  Australia  in  pens,  hunger  and  effluvia,  and  cursing  and 
stinging  cold,  or  sweltering  heat  and  despair  their  portion.  Many  of  them  drowning  them- 
selves because  life  was  unbearable.  Many  of  them  turned  into  maniacs  through  the  maltreat- 
ment. Irons  eating  to  the  bone,  or  the  men  working  up  to  their  knees  standing  in  the  mire. 
Charles  Anderson  chained  to  a  rock  for  two  \ears  only  a  specimen  of  the  cruelties.  Men 
committing  murder  that  the\-  might  be  hung  and  so  escape  the  wretchedness  of  exile.  Rev. 
Dr.  Ullathorne  put  upon  the  witness  stand  before  a  committee  appointed  to  examine  into 
the  Australian  outrages,  testified  in  the  following  words  :  "As  I  mentioned  the  names  of 
those  men  who  were  to  die,  they,  one  after  another,  as  their  names  were  pronounced,  dropped 
on  their  knees  and  thanked  God  that  they  were  to  be  delivered  from  that  horrible  place, 
whilst  the  others  remained  standing  unite  and  weeping.  It  was  the  most  horrible  scene  I 
have  ever  witnessed." 

The  fact  is  that  few  men  can  be  trusted  with  unlimited  and  unwatched  power. 
Australia  was  then  five  times  further  off  from  England  than  it  is  now,  and  captains  of 
convict  ships,  and  constables,  and  jailers,  and  turnkeys,  abusing  their  power,  were  so  far  oflf 

(171) 


172 


THE  EARTH  GH^DLED. 


from  reprehension,  and  their  tj'rannies  were  so  slowly  reported — if  reported  at  all — that  it 
seemed  safe  to  manl  and  beat  and  starve  the  helpless  exiles. 

The  government  at  home  would  never  have  allowed  such  atrocities  if  they  had  realized 
that  such  diabolism  was  being  jjracticed.  As  soon  as,  through  investigation,  the  abomina- 
tions were  pro\-en,  the  British  lion  put  his  foot  tipon  them,  and  Australia  was  forever  freed 
from  this  disembarkation  of  unfortunates.  At  one  point  dnriuir  the  course  of  years 
70,000  convicts  were  landed.  One  hundred  and  twent\'  thousand  con\-icts  left  ship  for  these 
shores.  What  has  been  the  result?  From  such  a  blasted  parentage,  you  would  have  sup- 
posed a  most  degraded  state  of  society  in  Australia.  Btit  here  comes  an  offset  to  many  of 
our  elaborate  theories  about  heredity.  Indeed,  we  have  all  seen  in  our  own  countries  so 
many  of  the  demonstrated  tendencies  of  a  corrupt  pedigree,  that  we  have  probably  said  things 


UI.I)    ri'iXAl.    Ldl.uNV    PRISON    OF    AUSTRALIA,    STILI.    STANDING.       USED    FIHTV    YEARS    AGO. 

too  discouraging  for  those  who  were  born  wrong.  But  liere  opens  a  wide  door  of  mighty 
hope  to  all  those  come  of  bad  ancestors.  The  simple  fact  is  that  the  majority  of  the  crimi- 
nals in  Australia  were  not  the  children  of  convicts. 

An  authorized  statement  before  me  shows  that  in  18S6  there  were  32,011  persons 
arraigned  for  crime,  and  that  about  oulv  one-third  of  tlieni  were  born  in  Australia  ;  the 
other  two-thirds  having  been  born  in  England,  Wales,  Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  that 
colony  of  Australia  to  which  the  largest  number  of  convicts  were  banished,  the  per- 
centage of  crime  is  now  less  than  in  any  of  the  other  colonies.  How  shall  we  account 
for  this  ? 

We  need  not  surrender  our  theories  about  the  depraved  tendency  of  bad  parentage. 
But  it  seems  as  if  Providence  intended  in  Australia  to  demonstrate  to  all  people  of  all  climes, 
that  however  unfortunate  the  cradle  in  which  one  is  rocked  he  can  mount  into  respectability 
and  honor.       The  vast    majority  of  the   cliildren    of    the    120,000  of    tho.se  condemned  to 


*\ 


(•73) 


174  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

Australia  must  have  turued  out  houest  and  virtuous.  Some  of  the  children  and  grand- 
children of  those  expatriated  ones  are  now  in  the  most  important  and  honorable  positions 
of  Australian  life.  They  are  physicians  having  on  them  all  the  responsibilities  of  the 
sick-room.  They  are  attorneys  pleading  causes  involving  immense  value  of  property  and 
life  itself.  They  are  executors  of  estates.  They  are  members  of  boards  of  trade  and 
manage  counuerce.  They  are  fathers  and  mothers  of  the  best  households.  They  are 
officers  of  religion,  and  carry  the  sacramental  cup  through  the  aisles  of  the  holy  communion. 
The  mother  of  one  who  is  now  an  arch-deacon,  and  who  has  been  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  was  e.xiled  from  England  to  Australia  for  stealing  a  horse,  in  order  that  she 
might  ride  away  to  see  her  lover.  The  mother  of  one  of  the  chief  justices  of  these 
colonies  was  deported  for  her  turpitude.  By  righteous  Act  of  Parliament  man\-  of  the 
public  records  of  transportation  for  offences  have  been  destroyed.  But  better  than  that, 
many  men  and  women  by  their  exemplary  career  have  abolished  the  stigma  of  their  sad 
heredity.  What  an  encouragement  and  a  cheer  for  the  millions  of  people  all  round  the 
earth  who  had  vicious  or  dissolute  ancestors,  to  start  anew  and  open  another  chapter  of 
family  record,  to  beat  back  the  waves  of  depressing  reminiscence,  and  to  be  as  honored  for 
their  exaltation  of  character  as  their  predecessors  were  dishonored  for  their  malevolence 
or  fraud  or  dissipation.  We  need  to  attach  enough  importance  to  family  blood  to  impress 
parents  with  the  overmastering  thought  of  their  responsibility  in  all  matters  of  conscience 
and  behavior,  but  we  must  avoid  making  so  much  of  heredity  as  to  discourage  those 
who  would  like  to  escape  from  under  the  curse  of  ancestral  obliquity.  Some  one  might 
say  that  these  excellent  descendants  of  profligate  forefathers  may  have  been  helped  to  go 
right  by  the  punishment  the  offenders  received.  Well,  that  might  have  worked  salutary 
results  in  many  cases  but  not  in  all. 

Another  large  percentage  of  good  descendants  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  convicts  were  really  innocent  and  why  should  not  their  offspring  be  innocent? 
But  after  all  the  reasons  given  for  the  fact  that  the  regions  once  occupied  by  convicts  are 
now  as  moral,  if  not  more  moral,  than  those  settled  by  avowedly  good  people,  are  insufficient 
reasons,  and  I  account  for  it  by  the  fact  that  the  world  needed  an  illustration  on  a  con- 
spicuous and  mighty  scale  that  a  family  wrecked  upon  the  breakers  of  crime  may  be  got 
safely  off  and  sail  away  on  a  prosperous  voyage  carrying  whole  generations.  And  that 
is  right.  It  would  be  sad,  indeed,  if  because  a  great-grandfather  had  committed  assault  and 
battery,  or  put  the  saddle  on  the  wrong  horse  before  taking  a  midnight  ride,  or  unduly 
practiced  someone  else's  chirography  at  the  foot  of  a  promissory  note,  or  meddled  with 
poultry  in  a  roost  not  belonging  to  him,  that  therefore  all  the  children  and  grandchildren 
and  great-grandchildren  should  have  to  suffer  from  the  malignmeut.  According  to  Sacred 
History  there  is  one  unhappy  incident  in  the  family  line  of  all  of  us  that  should  make  us 
lenient,  and  that  is  the  story  of  the  two  fruit  thieves  in  the  Garden  on  the  Euphrates. 
I  simply  state  the  impression  I  have  fonued  that  whatever  may  have  occurred  in  the  past, 
the  world  has  no  finer  citizenship  than  that  now  to  be  found  in  the  Australian  colonies. 
As  I  am  not  a  detective,  I  have  not  sought  out  the  undesirable  things  which  might  be 
found  everywhere,  but  I  avow  that  the  churches,  and  merciful  institutions,  the  art  galleries, 
the  schools,  the  colleges,  the  Christian  homes,  the  throngs  of  good  men  and  good  women 
here  to  be  found,  are  something  for  all  the  earth  and  all  the  heavens  to  rejoice  over.  But  is 
it  not  high  time  that  this  place  called  Botany  Bay  be  freed  from  the  derision  so  long  attached 
to  it,  and  be  used  as  Captain  Cook,  the  discoverer,  on  his  arrival  here  intended  it,  to  sug- 
gest flowers,  for  the  manner  in  which  many  parts  of  Australia  are  crimsoned  and  purpled 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


175 


and  whitened  and  flecked  and  fringed  and  starred  and  eniparadised  with  flora  is  enough  to 
enchant  all  botanists.  I  have  in  these  colonies  ridden  throuo-h  hundreds  of  miles  of  wattle, 
a  glorious  flower  with  a  poor  name.  The  wattles  grow  on  high  bushes  and  have  the  yellow 
of  fallen  sunsets.  From  the  car  window,  hour  after  hour,  you  look  out  until  your  vision  is 
dazed  and  bewildered  with  the  unending  opulence.  Unfenced  gardens  of  vast  acreage  laid 
out  and  planted  by  the  hand  of  Eternal  Beauty.  Valleys  of  it,  hills  of  it,  lengths  and 
breadths  of  it !  We  rode  through  one  lane  of  wattles  five  hundred  miles  long.  But  there 
are  in  Australia  over  9000  species  of  flowers  already  disco\-ered  and  by  the  botanists 
cliristened  with  names  under  the  baptism  of  dew.  To  the  aboriginal  plants  have  been 
added  an  immigration  of  Polynesian  and  Indian  families  of  flowers.     Plants  brought  from 


S'i-DN'EY   GARDENS,    AUSTRALIA, 
As    I    walked    through   day    after   day. 

otiier  lands  change  their  habits  to  suit  the  seasons  here  and  their  environment.  Such 
flowers  may  have  been  Europeans,  or  Asiatics,  or  Americans,  but  as  soon  as  they  make 
their  home  here  they  become  Australians.  Blooming  in  other  lands  only  once  a  vear,  in 
this  winterless  clime  they  bloom  again  and  again  and  are  perennial.  Here  is  osage-orange 
from  America,  cabbage  trees  from  New  Zealand,  fig  trees  from  Ceylon,  erythrines  from  the 
West  Indies,  the  maiden  hair  from  Japan  and  cacti  from  everywhere.  Oh,  what  a  land  of 
pictorialized  leaves!  What  cups  of  amber  and  silver  and  gold  and  amethyst  set  on  an 
emerald  table  of  the  fields  for  the  bee  and  the  butterfly  to  drink  out  of  to  the  health  of  the 


176  THE  EARTH  GH^DLED. 

morning!  What  pillars  of  divinely  shaped  stamen!  What  miracles  of  calyx!  WHiat 
poems  in  letters  of  camellia !  What  banners  of  lichen  and  moss  unfurled  on  the  rocks ! 
What  trembling  harp  of  ferns  played  on  by  the  west  wind  !  What  honeysuckle  bleeding 
with  deep  color  all  up  and  down  the  hills  !  What  inverted  firmaments  of  gentian !  What 
blue-bells  tolling  their  sweetness  on  the  air  !  What  morning-glories  worshiping  the  rising 
sun  !  As  mythology  tells  us  that  wherever  the  tears  of  a  maiden  fell  there  afterward 
sprung  up  sweet  and  beautiful  flowers,  who  knows  but  that  where\'er  the  tears  of  the 
innocent  and  wrong-sufferers  of  penal  convict  da}-s  soaked  the  ground,  there  may  now  come 
up  silver-tipped  lilies,  and  that  where  the  drops  of  blood  fell  from  the  shoulders  of  exiles 
unrighteously  whipped,  there  now  come  up  red  roses  full  blown  ?  As  Captain  Cook  sug- 
gested by  the  name  given  to  this  ba)-  the  opportunit\-  of  great  things  in  the  science  of 
botany,  I  wish  to  suggest  that  botany  may  be  an  everlasting  study  in  the  world  to  come. 
Other  sciences  will  for  the  most  part  be  extinct.  Astronomy  ma}-  be  of  little  use  then,  for 
the  worlds  will  have  dropped  like  blasted  figs.  Geology  may  be  of  little  use,  for  the  rocks 
will  have  crumbled,  granite  and  basalt  as  easily  as  sandstone.  Chemistry  may  be  of  little 
use,  for  our  world  itself  gone,  we  shall  have  but  little  interest  in  what  were  its  component 
parts.  Who  will  want  to  spend  his  time  in  discussing  a  defunct  planet?  Who  will  want 
to  invest  much  in  a  bankrupt  world?  But  botany  will  cross  into  the  supernal  paradise. 
Trees  certainly  and  flowers  I  think.  The  river  of  life  will  make  the  place  fertile,  and  there 
will  be  plenty  of  sunshine  in  that  nightless  realm,  and  water  and  sunshine  mean  flow'ers. 
In  that  land  the  trees  bear  twelve  manner  of  fruit,  and  there  must  be  blossoms  to  herald  its 
coming.  So  that  earthly  botany  here  will  be  only  the  preface  to  celestial  botany.  This 
much  I  know  that  the  Rose  of  Sharon  will  bloom  on  the  eternal  hills  and  the  Lily  of  the 
Valley  will  make  redolent  the  Imperial  Gardens.  This  stroll  to-day  on  the  beach  of 
Botany  Bay  has  led  me  to  think  of  the  enthronement  and  coronation  of  that  beautiful 
science  which  on  earth  and  in  heaven  will  be  a  subject  of  absorbing  and  rapturous  con- 
sideration :  the  science  of  botany  which  we  study  here  by  pulling  sepal  from  sepal  and 
petal  from  petal,  and  with  our  knife  cutting  the  delicate  fibres,  will  in  that  land  be  studied 
while  we  are  twisting  the  garlands  for  those  who  are  *'  more  than  conquerors." 


I 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


ZOOLOGICAL  WONDERS. 

*^^  E  who  has  not  seen  thi.s  metropolis  of  Victoria,  this  city  of  gardens  and  miaseums, 

w     ^k     colleges  and  churches,   university  and  observatory,   huge  banks  and   brilliant 
M.        [       hotels,  palaces  of  merchandise,  vast  auditoriums  and  arboreal  streets,  has  missed 
^^^  a  vision  of  brightness.     It  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Yarra,  which  is  to 

it  what  the  Delaware  is  to  Philadelphia,  the  Ohio  is  to  Cincinnati  or  the  Hudson  is  to 
New  York.  Melbourne  is  surrounded  by  country  seats  and  health  resorts,  St.  Kilda  and 
Brighton  and  Sandringham  and  Williamstown.     The  shepherd  who,  in  1848,  discovered  the 


S\'DNEY   HARBOR,    ArSTRALIA. 

gold  near  by,  hid  his  secret  for  two  years  while  deciding  how  he  could  make  the  n;ost  out 
of  it.  But  falling  sick  and  expecting  to  die  he  told  the  secret  of  the  finding,  and  in  1851 
all  the  world  knew  of  it,  and  the  finding  of  one  nugget  of  gold  called  the  "  Welcome 
Stranger  ;  "  that  one  chunk  worth  $50,000,  attracted  the  attention  of  all  nations.  We  must 
be  careful  and  not  make  comparison  between  Australian  cities,  esiJecially  between  Melbourne 
1^  (177) 


I7S 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


and  Sydney.  Indeed  the  only  thing  I  find  to  dislike  in  these  cities  is  their  wholesale 
depreciation  of  each  other.  Ask  a  citizen  of  Sydney  what  he  thinks  of  Melbourne  and  he 
will  tell  you  "  It  is  a  nuishrooni  growth,  situated  in  a  flat  country  and  had  a  sudden  prosperity 
that  depended  upon  gold  fields  which  have  run  out." 

Ask  a  citizen  of  j\Ielbourne  what  he  thinks  of  S>'dney,  and  he  will  say,  "  It  was  so  long 
a  penal  colony  that  it  has  never  gotten  over  it. "    Melbourne  and  Sydney  love  each  other  about 

as  much  as  Minneapolis 
loves  St.  Paul,  and  Seattle 
lo\es  Tacoma,  and  New 
York  loves  Chicago.  Al- 
most ever}'  city  of  America 
or  England  has  a  rival  city 
up  or  down  the  river,  whose 
existence  is  an  exaspera- 
tion. For  the  sin  of  tn,'- 
ing  to  set  themselves  up 
higher  than  others,  angels 
were  flung  oiit  of  heaven 
as  they  deserved  to  be.  For- 
ever silenced  be  all  the 
mean  rivalries  among  cities. 
They  do  no  good,  but  in- 
jure and  belittle.  Individ- 
uals, churches,  cities,  na- 
tions, never  advanced 
themselves  by  abuse  of 
others.  Subtraction  from 
one  is  not  addition  to 
another.  During  my  stay 
in  Australia,  in  conversa- 
tion and  on  platform,  and 
in  letter,  I  have  carefully 
avoided  invidious  compari- 
sons. 

It  is  characteristic  of 
the  large  cities  of  Australia 
that  they  ha\-e  great  pub- 
lic gardens,  statuetted  and 
fountained  and  arbored 
KANGAROO.  where    the    populations 

saunter  and  play.  Benedictions  eternal  upon  all  those  who  planned  for  this  garlanding  of 
the  cities !  Melbourne  and  Sydney,  and  Adelaide  too,  each  one  for  itself,  each  a  chorus  of 
colors  and  aromatics.      Alongside  of   it  you  will  find  a  zoological  collection. 

This  land  is  the  native  home  of  the  kangaroo.  When  good  kangaroos  die  they  only 
go  to  another  part  of  Australia.  Strange,  nervous  nondescripts  are  the  kangaroos.  They 
almost  make  us  believe  in  evolution,  for  they  seem  to  be  incomplete,  and  on  the  way  to 
something  else.     They  seem  as  if  nature  had  become  frightened  when  they  were  only  partly 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


179 


done,  and  left  them  to  scramble  for  themselves.  But  evolution  will  have  to  slow  up  on  the 
hind  quarters,  and  quicken  its  work  on  the  fore  quarters  to  make  this  animal  a  success, 
either  human  or  quadrupedal.  It  will  require  two  or  three  Darwins  to  fix  him  up  into 
anything  admirable.  If  it  took  a  million  \ears  to  develop  a  tadpole  into  a  man,  it  will  take 
at  least  half  that  time  to  develop  the  kangaroo  into  a  shape  at  all  plausible.  The  kangaroos 
have  to  fall  down  in  order  to  walk.  The  last  half  of  them  seems  to  have  been  first  made, 
and  the  first  half  only  just  begun  ;  superfluity  of  hind  feet  and  paucity-  of  fore  feet. 
Kangaroos  have  the  appearance  of  being  on  the  edge  of  a  fit.  When  they  walk  they  jump. 
When  they  lie  down  they  are  standing  up.  The  kangaroo  is  the  impersonation  of 
ungainliness.  It  is  the  consummation  of  awkwardness.  It  is  the  anticlimax  of  nature.  It 
is  the  burlesque  of  the  animal  kingdom.  It  seems  to  be  in  a  state  of  wonderment  as  to  who 
you  are,  and  with  the  fore  feet  beckon  you  to  come,  or  bid  you  depart,  and  you  cannot  tell 
which.  At  one  time  they  were  the  pests  of  the  colonies.  On  one, 
station  $4000  were  paid  for  their  extirpation.  But  the>-  are  now. 
so  nearly  driven  out  that  they  are  kept  in  zoological  museums  ^ 
as  curiosities. 

You  ought  to  hear  the  parrots  of  Australia  talk,  for 
there  are  sixty  species  of  them  ;  and  you  ought  to  see  the 
glance  of  the  falcons,  for  there  are  twenty-six  kinds  of 
them;  and  to  see  the  "lyre-birds"  with  plumes  in 
shape  of  a  thrummed  musical  instrument  ;  and  the 
"  bower-birds,"    so    called    because    they    build 
arbors  and  adorn  them  with  shells  for  them- 
selves and  their  mates  to  live  amidst ;  and 
owls  that  look  the  solemnest  when  they 
are  meditating  the  crudest  things,  and 
when  they  are  about  to  prey  i:pon  the 
chicken,  seem  by   their   looks    to    say, 
"  Let  us  prey  !  " 

But  the  strangest  creature  we  saw 
in  the  zoological  gardens  of  Australia 
w^as  what  is  commonly  called  here  "  the 
laughing  jackass."  It  is  a  bird  endowed 
with  such  a  voice  as  was  never  poured  laughing  jackass. 

forth  by  any  other  creature  of  the  forest.  It  has  a  wise  look  and  a  crown  of  feathers 
on  its  head  as  though  it  had  been  coronetted  for  its  \'ocal  qualities.  Its  beak  looks  like 
two  tablespoons,  the  top  spoon  inverted.  Suddenly  it  opened  its  beak  and  began  with 
sounds  which  were  a  combination  of  hoot  and  yell  and  bray  and  cackle,  startling  for 
compass  and  weirdness,  and  volume  that  would  throw  any  woods  into  a  pandemonium. 
The  bray  of  an  American  donkey  is  harmony  itself  compared  with  the  vociferation  of  this 
Australian  bird.  We  had  seen  and  heard  laughing  jackasses  before  in  America  and  England, 
that  is  those  who  laughed  at  nothing  and  laughed  very  loudly,  and  laughed  at  the  wrong 
time,  and  laughed  at  the  misfortunes  of  others  ;  but  the  laughing  jackasses  of  Australia 
surpa.ss  them  all.  They  are  not  to  blame,  for  they  do  the  best  they  can,  and  are  to  be 
encouraged  from  that  fact  that  if  they  please  no  one  else  they  please  themselves,  and  that  is 
commendable  ;  for  there  are  many  people  in  the  world  who  neither  please  others  nor  please 
themselves. 


i8o  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

While  writing  of  the  fauna  of  this  country,  I  must  mention  that  the  rabbits  are  so 
hated  in  Australia  that  they  are  not  kept  as  curiosities.  They  have  nearly  eaten  up  some 
ot  the  colonies.  Large  rewards  have  been  offered  for  the  killing  of  them.  Two  Scotchmen, 
vears  ago,  coming  to  Australia  brought  their  pet  rabbits  with  them  so  as  to  have  something 
to  remind  them  of  home  ;  and  that  Adam  and  Eve  of  haredom  have  raised  a  family  that 
have  become  one  of  the  greatest  scourges  of  the  colonies,  not  the  first  nor  the  last  time  that 
people's  pets  have  become  a  nuisance  to  the  neighborhood,  although  never  perhaps  a 
nuisance  on  so  illimitable  scale.  I  could  not  at  first  understand  why  Australians  had  such 
a  hatred  for  rabbits ;  for  I  remembered  well  that  in  m>'  bo\-hood  if  the  track  of  a  rabbit 
were  seen  some  morning  on  the  new  fallen  snow  it  set  us  all  wild  with  glee,  and  the  old  gun 
that  had  not  been  shot  off  for  a  long  while  and  was  never  shot  off  without  danger  of  its 
bursting,  was  taken  down  from  its  place  among  the  rafters,  and  the  rusty  gun-lock  was 
picked,  and  all  hands  with  halloo  and  swinging  caps  were  on  the  track  of  that  poor  rabbit, 
and  if  after  a  half  day's  chase  we  brought  in  the  prey,  it  was  hung  up  with  pride,  and  all 
the  neighbors  came  in  to  feel  the  fur,  and  see  where  the  shot  entered  the  neck  ;  and  that 
one  of  the  bo\s  who  had  successfully  pulled  the  trigger  was  honored  as  a  mighty  Nimrod 
far  and  near.     But  a  rabbit  in  Australia  is  a  s\nouym  for  disgust. 

In  mv  journe\-  through  New  Zealand  and  Australia,  the  fauna  and  the  flora  and  the 
botanical  and  zoological  gardens  have  been  to  me  a  fascination  and  a  charm.  What  an 
education  for  a  city  are  such  places  !  Would  that  all  our  American  and  English  towns  and 
cities  had  such  adjuncts.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  some  of  the  wealthy  men,  who  leave 
larger  bequests  to  their  children  than  is  good  for  them,  demonstrated  in  their  last  will  and 
testament  some  public  spirit.  Not,  however,  of  the  absurd  kind  shown  by  the  man  who 
bequeathed  that,  after  death,  he  be  skinned,  and  his  skin  given  to  Agassiz  and  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  to  be  made  up  into  two  drumheads,  on  one  of  which  should  be  written  "  Pope's 
Universal  Pra^-er,"  and  on  the  other  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  the  latter 
drumhead  to  be  beaten  the  seventeenth  day  of  June  at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill.  We  do  not 
like  that  testator's  mode  of  showing  his  public  spirit.  But  many  of  our  wealthy  men  could 
leave  enough  monev  to  their  children  to  spoil  them  and  yet  have  enough  to  open  botanical 
and  zooloeical  eardens  that  would  bless  whole  towns  and  cities  for  all  time  to  come. 

I  will  be  asked  when  I  get  home  if  in  any  part  of  Australia  I  saw  anything  of  the 
Bushrangers,  the  desperadoes  who  aforetime  swooped  down  with  pistol  and  dirk  upon  the 
settlements  of  the  helpless  ones  in  the  Bush.  No !  We  might  express  surprise  that  the 
bushrangers  were  at  work  in  Australia  as  late  as  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  but  Australians 
might  e.xpress  surprise  that  within  a  few  \ears  we  have  had  in  America,  the  Dalton  and 
James  Brothers,  and  banks  blown  up  by  dynamite,  and  masked  horsemen,  and  rail  train 
robbers.  Every  nation  at  some  time  has  had  to  contend  with  this  evil :  Ruffianism  in  stir- 
rups ;  romance  of  villainy;  glorified  assas,sination  ;  murder  on  the  wing;  infamy  stuffed 
with  braggadocia  ;  pride  of  dirk  ;  highwaymen  in  triumph  ;  death  in  full  glee ;  recalci- 
trancy mounted  ;  brigandage  crowned.  E\-ery  generation  has  had  its  Jack  Sheppards,  and 
Dick  Turpins.  But  Australia  has  put  down  the  wickedness.  With  the  "Kelly  Gang" 
scattered  and  hung  about  fifteen  years  ago  the  chief  violence  halted.  To  see  how  deter- 
mined Australian  authorities  were  in  the  extermination  of  the  Bushrangers,  you  have  only 
to  notice  the  rewards  offered  for  their  arrest :  $5000  for  the  arrest  of  Daniel  Morgan  ;  $5000 
for  Benjamin  Hall ;  $5000  for  Thomas  Clark  ;  $5000  for  John  Gilbert ;  $40,000  for  the 
"  Kellv  Gang  "  before  mentioned.  A  costly  and  imposing  monument  stands  on  the  main 
street  of  Mansfield,  Australia,  in  honor  of  the   three    policemen  who  lost  their  lives  in 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  i8i 

contending  with  the  Kelly  bushrangers.  Why  not  monuments  to  brave  policemen  who  in  any 
country  die  in  the  interests  of  law  and  order.  Certainly  it  requires  as  much  courage,  alone 
and  single-handed,  to  confront  a  blood-thirst>-  villain,  as  to  go  into  a  battle  where  out  of  a 
thousand  men  in  a  regiment  there  is  no  probability  that  more  than  twenty  per  cent  will  be 
slain.  Monuments  for  soldiers  by  all  means,  but  monuments  for  heroic  constabular\-,  just 
as  important.  Bushranging  in  Australia  is  a  matter  of  history,  although  you  may  to-morrow 
read  of  a  man  butchered  in  an  .\ustralian  bush,  as  in  the  same  paper  you  ma)-  read  of  the 
passengers  on  a  Rocky  Mountain  rail  train  urgently  invited  to  hold  up  their  arms  so  as  to 
make  access  to  their  pockets  the  more  easy. 

More  than  anything  else,  I  have  been  impressed  with  the  people  of  Australia,  their 
independence,  self-reliance,  and  freedom  from  conventionality.  Under  God  these  people 
made  themselves.  Why  will  men  sta\'  in  countries  where  their  environments  are  hindering, 
when  there  is  so  much  room  elsewhere  ?  In  all  these  colonies  are  men  largely  successful 
in  merchandise  and  law  and  medicine  and  theology,  who  would  never  have  gotten  on  if 
they  had  stayed  in  the  old  countries.  Some  mistake  made  before  they  left  home  would 
have  kept  them  crippled,  or  their  fellow-citizens  had  gotten  in  the  habit  of  talking  against 
them,  or  tiieir  social  surroundings  were  depressing.  They  would  have  always  been  under- 
lings had  they  stayed  at  home,  but  they  struck  out,  and  ever  since  they  have  been  free  with 
any  amount  of  possibilities  open  before  them. 

Just  now  things  in  .Australia  are  depressed  as  they  are  depressed  everywhere,  but  the 
embarrassment  cannot  last.  There  is  but  One  Being  in  the  universe  who  knows  of  the 
immensity  of  the  resources  of  Australia,  and  He  is  the  God  who  made  it.  People  talk  of 
the  law  of  the  pendulum  as  though  it  were  the  law  of  man.  No  !  It  is  the  law  of  God. 
Now  we  all  know  that  if  the  pendulum  swing  out  in  one  direction,  you  have  onh-  to  watch 
it  to  see  it  swing  out  just  as  far  in  the  opposite  direction.  Finance  in  Australia,  as  well  as 
in  America,  for  the  last  three  years  has  been  swinging  out  toward  loss,  toward  discourage- 
ment, toward  bankruptcy,  toward  ruin  ;  but  the  law  of  God  will  yet  make  it  swing  just  as 
far  in  the  opposite  direction  toward  prosperity,  toward  success,  toward  opulence.  And  this 
is  gloriously  true  on  a  still  larger  scale,  planetar}'  as  well  as  national.  The  silver  pendulum 
of  this  world  began  to  swing  in  the  wrong  direction  about  5894  years  ago,  as  near  as  I  can 
calculate.  No  adequate  effort  to  swing  it  back  was  made  until  about  1894  years  ago.  Be 
not  surprised  that  1894  years  have  not  swung  it  in  the  right  direction  as  far  as  the  previous 
4000  years  swung  it  in  the  wrong.  During  4000  years,  it  curved  out  toward  barbarism, 
toward  cruelty,  toward  darkness,  toward  sin,  toward  perdition.  But  it  is  beginning  to  swing 
toward  Christianity,  toward  civilization,  toward  goodness,  toward  heaven,  and  will  continue 
to  swing  that  way  until  it  has  gone  as  far  right  as  it  went  far  wrong.  What  then?  Will 
not  the  same  law  make  it  swing  back  again  ?  No  !  The  world  will  then  have  accomplished 
its  niisssion,  and  the  pendulum  will  be  unhooked  from  the  clock  of  the  ages,  and  shall  cease 
to  swing  at  all,  for  time  shall  be  no  longer.  What  would  be  the  use  of  the  pendulum  when 
there  is  no  time. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

AT  MELBOURNE.-"SOME  BIG   BLUNDERS." 

OUR  reception  at  Melbourne,  Australia,  was  as  cordial  and  hearty  as  that  accorded 
us  by  the  people  of  Auckland,  and  in  some  respects  the  enthusiasm  was  greater. 
On  the  evening  of  August  17,  I  delivered,  in  the  Town  Hall,  the  followmg  lecture 
on  "  Big  Blunders,"  to  an  audience  that  tested  the  cajaacity  of  the  building. 

The  man  who  never  made  a  blunder  has  not  yet  been  born.  If  he  had  been,  he  would 
have  died  right  away.  The  first  blunder  was  born  in  Paradise  and  it  has  had  a  large  family 
of  children.  Agricultural  blunders,  commercial  blunders,  literary  blunders,  mechanical 
blunders,  artistic  blunders,  ecclesiastical  blunders,  moral  blunders,  and  blunders  of  all  sorts ; 
but  an  ordinary  blunder  will  not  attract  my  attention.  It  must  be  large  at  the  g;irth  and 
great  in  stature.  In  other  words,  it  must  be  a  big  blunder.  Let  me  premise  that  my  ideas 
of  human  life  are  very  practical.  I  have  not  much  patience  with  those  people  who  talk  of 
human  life  as  something  you  could  pass  on  stilts.  You  cannot.  Such  a  man  as  that  is  sure 
to  he  tripped  up.  I  heard  of  a  large  religions  meeting  where  people  were  giving  their  ex- 
perience. A  man  of  great  pomposit}-  arose  and  said,  "  I  am  on  board  the  old  ship  Zion, 
and  I  am  sailing  hea\"enward,  and  I  am  going  at  the  rate  of  seventeen  knots  an  hour,  and  I 
shall  soon  on  this  ship  sail  up  the  harbor  of  heaven."  Another  man  with  still  more  pom- 
posity, got  up  and  said,  "  I  too  am  on  board  the  old  ship  Zion,  and  I  am  sailing  heavenward, 
and  I  am  going  at  the  rate  of  forty  knots  an  hour,  and  I  shall  soon  on  this  ship  sail  up  "^he 
harbor  of  the  blessed."  And  he  sat  down.  Another  man  with  still  more  pomposity,  arose  and 
said,  "  I  too  am  on  board  the  old  ship  Zion,  but  the  ship  I  am  on  is  a  steamship,  and  it  is  a 
steamship  of  400  horse-power,  and  I  shall  soon  on  this  steamship  sail  up  the  harbor  of  the 
blessed."  And  he  sat  down.  When  an  old-fashioned  woman  arose  and  said,  "  I  have  been 
going  heavenward  for  seventy  years,  and  I  have  been  going  a-foot,  and  from  the  looks  of 
things  I  shall  have  to  go  a-foot  all  the  way,  and  if  some  of  you  people  that  are  going  by 
steam  don't  look  out  you'll  bust  )our  bilers."  The  most  of  us  will  have  to  go  a-foot,  and 
if  anybody  can  point  out  to  us  the  right  path  we  will  be  everlastingly  obligated  to  him.  I 
am  glad  that  you  understand  my  subject.    It  is  important  to  have  it  accurately  announced. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  to  deliver  a  lecture  in  one  of  our  cities,  and  on  my  way  to  the 
lecture  hall  I  saw  on  a  board  fence  the  advertisement  of  my  lecture.  It  had  been  partially 
covered  up  by  other  announcements,  partially  mutilated  and  mixed  up  with  other  advertise- 
ments, until  the  announcement  on  the  board  fence  read  something  like  this : 

"  Rev.  T.  DeWitt  Talmage  will,  to-morrow  night,  at  Wietiug's  Hall,  hold  the  fifth 
annual  fireman's  ball,  will  walk  100  consecutive  hours  without  food  or  sleep,  will  welcome 
to  the  city  Heenan,  the  champion  of  pugilists,  will  run  a  sorrel  horse  against  any  other 
for  a  purse  of  $500  !  " 

I  never  had  such  an  embarrassing  amount  of  work  to  do  in  one  night  in  all  my  life. 
You  have  no  such  extravagant  anticipations,  but  are  only  to  listen  while  I  speak  to  you 
about  big  blunders. 

Blunder  the  first :  Multiplicity  of  occupations.  I  have  a  friend  who  is  a  very  good 
painter,  and  a  very  good  poet,  and  a  very  good  speaker,  and  he  can  do  a  half  dozen  things 

(182) 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


183 


well,  but  he  is  the  exception.  The  general  rule  is  that  a  man  can  do  only  one  thing 
well.  Perhaps  there  are  two  things  to  do.  First,  find  your  sphere  ;  secondly,  keep  it. 
The  general  rule  is,  masons,  stick  to  your  trowel  ;  carpenters,  stick  to  }'our  plane  ;  lawyers, 
stick  to  )our  brief;  ministers,  stick  to  your  pulpit,  and  don't  go  off  lecturing.  Fireman, 
if  you  please,  one  locomotive  at  a  time  ;  navigator,  one  ship  ;  professor,  one  department. 
The  mighty  men  of  all  professions  were  men  of  one  occupation.  Thorwaldsen  at  sculpture, 
Irving  at  literature,  Rothschild  at  banking,  Forrest  at  acting,  Brunei  at  engineering,  Ross 
at  navigation,  Punch  at  joking.  Sometimes  a  man  is  prepared  by  Providence  through  a 
variety  of  occupations  for  some  great  mission.  Hugh  Miller  must  climb  up  to  his  high 
work  through  the  quarries  of  Cromarty.  And  sometimes  a  man  gets  prepared  for  his 
work  through  sheer  trouble.  He  goes  from  misfortune  to  misfortune,  and  from  disaster  to 
disaster,  and  from  persecution  to  persecution,  until  he  is  ready  to  graduate  from  the 
Fniversity  of  Hard  Knocks.  I  know  the  old  poets  used  to  say  that  a  man  got  inspiration  by 
sleeping  on  Mount  Parnas- 
sus. That  is  absurd.  That 
is  not  the  way  men  get  in- 
spiration. It  is  not  the  man 
on  the  mountain,  but  the 
mountain  on  the  man,  and 
the  effort  to  throw  it  off  that 
brings  men  to.  the  position 
for  which  God  inten''ed 
them.  But  the  general  rule 
is  that  by  the  time  thirty 
years  of  age  is  reached  the 
occupation  is  thoroughly  de- 
cided, and  there  will  be  siic- 
cess  in  that  direction  if  it  be 
thoroughly  followed.  It 
does  not  make  much  differ- 
ence what  you  do,  so  far  as 
the  mere  item  of  success  is 
concerned,  if  you  only  do  it. 
Brandreth  can  make  a  for- 
tune at  pills,  Adams  by  expressage,  Cooper  by  manufacturing  glue,  Genin  by  selling  hats, 
contractors  by  manufacturing  shodd}",  merchants  by  putting  sand  in  sugar,  beet  juice  in 
vinegar,  chicory  in  coffee,  and  lard  in  butter.  One  of  the  costliest  dwellings  in  Phila- 
delphia was  built  out  of  eggs.  Palaces  have  been  built  out  of  spools,  out  of  toothache 
drops,  out  of  hides,  out  of  pigs'  feet,  out  of  pickles,  out  of  tooth-brushes,  out  of  hose, 
h-o-s-e  and  h-o-e-s,  out  of  fine-tooth  combs,  out  of  ice,  out  of  water,  out  of  birds,  out  of 
bones,  out  of  shells,  out  of  steam,  out  of  thunder  and  lightning. 

The  difference  between  conditions  in  life  is  not  so  much  a  difference  in  the  fruitfulness 
of  occupations  as  it  is  a  difference  in  the  endowment  of  men  with  that  great  and  magnificent 
attribute  of  stick-to-itiveness.  I\Ir.  Plod-on  was  doing  a  flourishing  business  at  selling 
banties,  but  he  wanted  to  do  all  kinds  of  huckstering,  and  his  nice  little  property  took 
wings  of  ducks  and  turkeys  and  shanghais  and  flew  away.  Mr.  Loomdriver  had  an 
excellent  factory  on  the  Merrimac,  and  made  beautiful  carpets,  but  he  concluded  to  put  up 


TOWN    HALT.    ORGAN,   FIFTH    LARGEST   IN   THE   WORLD.   :MELB0URNE, 

AUSTRALIA. 


i84  THE    EARTH    GIRDLED. 

another  kind  of  factory  for  the  making  of  shawls,  and  one  day  there  was  a  nice  little 
quarrel  between  the  two  factories,  and  the  carpets  ate  up  the  shawls,  and  the  shawls  ate  up 
the  carpets,  and  having  succeeded  so  well  in  swallowing  each  other,  they  turned  around 
and  gulped  down  ]\Ir.  Loonidriver. 

Blackstone  Large-Practice  was  the  best  lawyer  in  town.  He  could  make  the  most 
plausible  argument  and  had  the  largest  retainer,  and  some  of  the  young  men  of  the  profes- 
sion were  proud  to  wear  their  hair  just  as  he  did,  and  to  have  just  as  big  a  shirt  collar.  But 
he  concluded  to  go  into  politics.  He  entered  that  paradise  which  men  call  a  caucus.  He 
was  voted  up  and  he  was  voted  down.  He  came  within  three  votes  of  getting  it.  He  never 
got  any  nearer  than  three  votes.  He  got  on  the  Chicago  platform,  but  a  plank  broke  and 
he  slipped  through.  He  got  on  the  St.  Louis  platform,  but  it  rocked  like  an  earthquake, 
and  a  plank  broke  and  he  slipped  through.  Theu,  as  a  circus  rider  with  one  foot  on  each 
horse  whirls  round  the  ring,  he  put  oue  foot  on  the  Chicago  platform  and  another  foot  on 
the  St.  Louis  platforui,  and  he  slipped  between,  and  landing  in  a  ditch  of  political  obloquy, 
he  coucluded  he  had  enough  of  politics.  And  he  came  back  to  his  law  office  and  as  he 
entered  covered  with  the  mire,  all  the  briefs  from  the  pigeon  hole  rustled  with  gladness,  and 
Kent's  Commentaries,  and  Livingston's  Law  Register  broke  forth  in  the  exclamation, 
"  Welcome  home.  Honorable  Blackstone  Large-Practice,  jack  of  all  trades  is  master  of 
none."  Dr.  Bone-Setter  was  a  master  in  the  healing  profession.  No  man  was  more  welcome 
in  anybody's  house  than  this  same  Dr.  Bone-Setter,  and  the  people  loved  to  see  him  pass 
and  thought  there  was  in  his  old  gig  a  kind  of  religious  rattle.  'When  he  entered  the  drug 
store  all  the  medicines  knew  him,  and  the  pills  would  toss  about  like  a  rattle  box,  and  the 
quinine  would  shake  as  though  it  had  the  chills,  and  the  great  strengthening  plasters  unroll, 
and  the  soda  fountain  fizz,  as  much  as  to  say,  "Will  you  take  vanilla  or  strawberry?" 
Riding  along  in  his  gig  one  day  he  fell  into  a  thoughtful  mood,  and  concluded  to  enter  the 
ministry.  He  mounted  the  pulpit  and  the  pulpit  mounted  him,  and  it  was  a  long  while 
before  it  was  known  who  was  of  the  most  importance.  The  young  people  said  the  preach- 
ing was  dry,  and  the  merchant  could  not  keep  from  making  financial  calculations  in  the 
back  part  of  the  psalm-book,  and  the  church  thinned  out  and  everything  went  wrong. 
Well,  one  Monday  morning  Messrs.  Plod-on,  Loonidriver,  Blackstone  Large-Practice  and 
Dr.  Bone-Setter  met  at  one  corner  of  the  street,  and  all  felt  so  low-spirited  that  one  of  them 
proposed  to  sing  a  song  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  spirits  up.  I  have  forgotten  all  but 
the  chorus,  but  you  would  have  been  amused  to  hear  how,  at  the  end  of  all  the  verses,  the 
voices  came  in,  "Jack  of  all  trades  is  master  of  none."  A  man  from  the  country  districts 
came  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  and  some  one  asked  a  farmer  from  that  region 
what  sort  of  a  President  Mr.  So-and-so  would  make.  The  reply  was,  "  He's  a  good  deal  of 
a  man  in  our  little  town,  but  I  think  if  you  spread  him  out  over  all  the  United  States  he 
will  be  mighty  thin."  So  there  are  men  admirable  in  one  occupation  or  profession,  but 
spread  out  their  energies  over  a  dozen  things  to  do  and  they  are  dead  failures.  Young 
man,  concentrate  all  your  energies  in  one  direction.  Be  not  afraid  to  be  called  a  man 
of  one  idea.  Better  have  one  great  idea  than  five  hundred  little  bits  of  ones.  Are  >ou 
merchants,  you  will  find  abundant  sweep  for  your  intellect  in  a  business  which  absorbed 
the  energ\-  of  a  Lenox,  a  Stewart,  and  a  Grinnell.  Are  you  lawyers,  you  will  in  your 
grand  profession  find  heights  and  depths  of  attaiinnent  which  tasked  a  Marshall,  and  a 
McLean,  and  a  Story,  and  a  Kent.  Are  you  plnsicians,  you  can  afford  to  waste  but 
little  time  outside  of  a  profession  which  was  the  pride  of  a  Rush,  a  Hervey,  a  Cooper,  and 
a  '^vdenham. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


185 


Every  man  is  made  to  fit  into  some  occupation  or  profession,  just  as  a  tune  is  made  to 
fit  a  metre.  Make  up  }our  mind  wliat  \ou  ought  to  be.  Get  your  call  straight  from  the 
throne  of  God.  We  talk  about  ministers  getting  a  call  to  preach.  So  they  must.  But 
every  man  gets  a  call  straight  from  the  throne  of  God  to  do  some  one  thing — that  call 
written  in  his  physical  or  mental  or  spiritual  constitution — the  call  saying,  "  You  be  a 
merchant,  you  be  a  manufacturer,  >ou  be  a  mechanic,  you  be  an  artist,  you  be  a  reformer, 
}0U  be  this,  }ou  be  that,  you  be  the  other  thing."  And  all  our  success  and  happiness 
depend  upon  our  being  that  which  God  commands  us  to  be.  Remember  there  is  no  other 
person  in  the  world  that  can  do  your  work.     Out  of  the  sixteen  hundred  millions  of  the  race, 


GENERAL    I'D.sT-cri'IL'I.,  S\JiM.\.   a:  STRAI.IA. 

not  one  can  do  your  work.  You  do  your  work  and  it  is  done  forever.  You  neglect  vour 
work  and  it  is  neglected  forever.  The  man  who  has  the  smallest  mission  has  a  magnificent 
mission.  God  .sends  no  man  on  a  fool's  errand.  Getting  vour  call  straight  from  the  throne 
of  God,  and  making  up  your  mind  what  you  ought  to  do,  gather  together  all  your 
opportunities  (and  you  v/ill  be  surprised  how  many  there  are  of  them),  gather  them  into 
companies,  into  regiments,  into  brigades,  a  whole  army  of  them,  and  then  ride  along  the 
line  and  give  the  word  of  command,  "  Forward,  march  ! "  and  no  power  on  earth  or  in  hell 
can  stand  before  you.  I  care  not  what  your  education  is,  elaborate  or  nothing,  wdiat  \our 
mental  calibre,  great  or  small,  that  man  who  concentrates  all  his  energies  of  body,  mind 
and  soul  in  one  direction  is  a  tremendous  man. 


186  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

Blunder  the  next :  induii^ence  in  temper.  Good  humor  will  sell  the  most  goods,  plead 
the  best  argument,  effect  the  best  cure,  preach  the  best  sermon,  build  the  best  wall,  weave 
the  best  carpet.  The  poorest  business  firm  in  town  is  "Growl,  Spitfire  &.  Brothers."  They 
blow  their  clerks.  They  insult  their  customers.  They  quarrel  with  the  draymen.  They 
write  impudent  duns.  They  kick  the  beggars.  The  children  shy  off  as  they  pass  the 
street  and  the  dogs  with  wild  yelp  clear  the  path  as  they  come.  Acrid,  waspish,  fretful, 
explosive,  saturnine,  suddenly  the  money  market  will  be  astounded  with  the  defalcation  of 
Growl,  Spitfire  &  Brothers.  Merryman  &  Warmgrasp  were  poor  boys  when  they  came  from 
the  countrs'.  The)-  brought  all  their  possessions  in  one  little  pack  slung  over  their  shoulder. 
Two  socks,  two  collars,  one  jacknife,  a  paper  of  pins  and  a  hunk  of  gingerbread  which 
their  mother  gave  them  when  she  kissed  them  good-bye,  and  told  them  to  be  good  boys  and 
mind  the  boss.  They  smiled  and  laughed  and  bowed  and  worked  themselves  up  higher  and 
higher  in  the  estimation  of  their  employers.  They  soon  had  a  store  on  the  corner.  They 
were  obliging  men,  and  people  from  the  country  left  their  carpet  bags  in  that  store  when 
they  came  to  town.  Henceforth  when  the  farmers  want  hardware  or  clothing  or  books  they 
went  to  buy  it  at  the  place  where  their  carpet  bags  had  been  treated  so  kindly.  The  firm 
had  a  way  of  holding  up  a  yard  of  cloth  and  shining  on  it  so  that  plain  cassimere  would 
look  almost  as  well  as  French  broadcloth,  and  an  earthen  pitcher  would  glisten  like 
porcelain.  Not  by  the  force  of  capital,  but  by  having  money  drawer  and  counting  desk 
and  counter  and  shelves  all  full  of  good  temper,  they  rose  in  society  until  to-day  Merryman 
&  Warmgrasp  have  one  of  the  largest  stores  and  the  most  elegant  show  windows  and  the 
finest  carriages  and  the  prettiest  wives  in  all  the  town  of  Shuttleford.  A  melancholy 
musician  may  compose  a  "  Dead  March,"  and  make  harp  weep  and  organ  wail ;  but  will  not 
master  a  battle  march,  or  with  that  grand  old  instrument,  the  organ,  storm  the  castles  of  the 
soul  as  with  the  fl>ing  artillery  of  light  and  love  and  joy  until  the  organ  pipes  seem  filled 
with  a  thousand  clapping  hosannas.  A  melancholy  poet  may  write  a  Dante's  Inferno  until 
out  of  his  hot  brain  there  come  steaming  up  barking  Cerebus  and  wan  sprite,  but  not  the 
chime  of  Moore's  melodies  or  the  roll  of  Pope's  Dunciad,  or  the  trumpet  call  of  Scott's 
Don  Roderick,  or  the  archaugelic  blast  of  Milton's  Paradise  Lost.  A  melancholy  painter 
may  with  Salvator  sketch  death  and  gloom  and  monstrosity.  But  he  cannot  reach  the 
tremor  of  silvery  leaf,  or  the  shining  of  sun  through  mountain  pine,  or  the  light  of  morning 
struck  through  a  foam  wreath,  or  the  rising  sun  leaping  on  the  sapphire  battlements  with 
banners  of  flame,  or  the  gorgeous  "  Heart  of  the  Andes,"  as  though  all  the  bright  colors  of 
earth  and  heaven  had  fought  a  great  battle  and  left  their  blood  on  the  leaves. 

Blunder  the  next :  E.xcessive  amusement.  I  say  nothing  against  amusement.  Persons 
of  your  temperament  and  mine,  could  hardly  live  without  it.  I  have  noticed  that  a  child 
who  has  no  vivacity  of  spirit,  in  after  life  produces  no  fruitfulness  of  moral  character.  A 
tree  that  has  no  blossoms  in  the  spring  will  have  no  apples  in  the  fall.  A  good  game  at  ball  is 
great  sport.  The  sky  is  clear.  The  ground  is  just  right  for  fast  running.  The  club  put 
off  their  coats  and  put  on  their  caps.  The  ball  is  round  and  hard  and  stuffed  with  illimit- 
able bounce.  Get  ready  tlie  bats  and  take  your  positions.  Now,  give  us  a  ball.  Too  low. 
Don't  strike.  Too  high.  Don't  .strike.  There  it  comes  like  lightning.  Strike  !  Away  it 
soars  higher,  higher.  Run  !  Another  base.  Faster.  Faster.  Good  !  All  around  at  one 
stroke.  All  hail  to  the  man  or  the  big  boy  who  invented  ball  playing.  After  tea  open  the 
checker  board.  Now,  look  out,  or  your  bo\-  Bob  will  beat  you.  With  what  masterly  skill 
he  moves  up  his  men.  Look  out  now,  or  he  will  jump  you.  Sure  enough,  two  of  your 
men  gone  from  the  board  and  a  king  for  Bob.     With   what  cruel  pleasure  he  sweeps  the 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


187 


board.  What  !  Only  two  more  men  left  ?  Re  careful  now.  Only  one  more  move  possi- 
ble. Cornered  sure  as  fate  !  and  Bob  bends  over,  and  looks  you  in  the  face  with  a  most 
provoking  banter,  and  says,  "  Pop,  why  don't  you  move?" 

Call  up  the  dogs.  Tray,  Blanchard  and  Sweetheart.  A  good  day  for  hunting.  Get 
down,  Tray,  with  your  dirty  feet !  Put  on  powder  flask  and  shoulder  tlie  gun.  Over  the 
hill  and  through  the  wood.  Boys,  don't  make  such  a  racket  you'll  scare  the  game.  There's 
a  rabbit.  Squat.  Take  good  aim.  Bang !  Missed  him.  Yonder  he  goes.  Sic  'em,  sic 
'em.  See  the  fur  fly.  Got  him  at  last.  Here,  Tray,  here.  Tray  !  John,  get  up  the  bays. 
All  read)-.  See  how  the  btickles  glisten,  and  how  the  horses  prance,  and  the  spokes  flash  in 
tlie  sun.     Now  open  the  gate.     Away  we  go.     Let  the  gravel  fly,  and  tlie  tires  rattle  over 


TOWN    UAI.L,    SYDNKV. 

the  pavement,  and  the  horses'  hoofs  clatter  and  ring.  Good  roads  now,  and  let  them  fly. 
Crack  the  wliip.  G'long  !  Nimble  horses  with  smooth  roads,  in  a  pleasant  day,  and  no 
toll  gates — clatter,  clatter,  clatter.  I  never  see  a  man  go  out  with  a  fishing  rod  to  sport  but 
I  silently  say,  "  May  yon  have  a  good  time,  and  the  right  kind  of  bait,  and  a  basketful  of 
catfisli  and  flounders."  I  never  see  a  party  taking  a  pleasant  ride  but  I  wish  them  a  joyous 
round,  and  say,  "  Ma\-  the  horse  not  cast  a  shoe,  nor  the  trace  break,  and  may  the  horse's 
thirst  not  compel  them  to  stop  at  too  many  taverns."  In  a  world  where  God  lets  His  lambs 
frisk,  and  His  trees  toss,  and  His  brooks  leap,  and  His  stars  twinkle,  and  His  flowers  make 
love  to  each  other,  I  know  He  intended  men  at  times  to  laugh  and  sing  and  sport.     The 


i88  THE  EARTH   GIRDLED. 

whole  world  is  full  of  music  if  we  oul)'  had  ears  acute  enough  to  hear  it.  Silence  itself  is 
only  music  asleep.  Out  upon  the  fashion  that  lets  a  man  smile,  but  pronounces  him  vulgar 
if  he  makes  great  demonstration  of  hilarity.  Out  upon  a  style  of  Christianity  that  would 
make  a  man's  face  the  counter  upon  which  to  measure  religion  by  the  yard.  "All  work 
and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  bo\-,"  is  as  true  as  preaching,  and  more  true  than  some 
preaching.  "  Better  wear  out  than  rust  out,"  is  a  poor  maxim.  They  are  both  sins.  You 
have  no  more  right  to  do  the  one  than  the  other.  Recreation  is  re-creation.  But  while 
all  this  is  so,  every  thinking  man  and  woman  will  acknowledge  that  too  much  devo- 
tion to  amusement  is  ruinous.  Many  of  the  clergy  of  the  last  century  lost  their  theology  in 
a  fox  chase.  Many  a  splendid  business  has  had  its  brains  kicked  out  by  fast  horses.  Many 
a  man  has  smoked  up  his  prospects  in  Havanas  of  the  best  brand.  There  are  battles  in  life 
that  cannot  be  fought  with  sportsman's  gim.  There  are  things  to  be  caught  that  you  can- 
not draw  up  with  a  fishing  tackle.  Even  Christopher  North,  that  magnificent  Scotchman, 
dropped  a  great  deal  of  usefulness  out  of  his  sporting  jacket.  Through  excessive  amuse- 
ment manv  clergymen,  farmers,  lawyers,  physicians,  mechanics,  artists  have  committed  the 
big  blunder  of  their  lives.  I  offer  this  as  a  principle  :  those  amusements  are  harmless 
which  do  not  interfere  with  home  duties  and  enjoyments.  Those  are  ruinous  which  give 
one  distaste  for  domestic  pleasure  and  recreation. 

When  a  man  likes  any  place  on  earth  better  than  his  own  home,  look  out !  Yet  how 
manv  men  seem  to  have  no  appreciation  of  what  a  good  home  is.  It  is  only  a  few  years  ago 
that  the  twain  stood  at  the  marriage  altar  and  promised  fidelity  till  death  did  them  part. 
Now,  at  midnight,  he  is  staggering  on  his  way  to  the  home,  and  as  the  door  opens,  I  see  on 
the  face  inside  the  door  the  shadow  of  sorrows  that  are  passed,  and  the  shadow  of  sorrows- 
that  are  to  come.  Or,  I  see  her  going  along  the  road  at  midnight  to  the  place  where  he  was 
ruined,  and  opening  the  door  and  swinging  out  from  imder  a  faded  shawl  a  shriveled  arm, 
crying  out  in  almost  supernatural  eloquence,  "  Give  him  back  to  me,  him  of  the  noble  brow  and 
the  great  heart.  Give  him  back  to  me  1 "  And  the  miserable  wretches  seated  around  the 
table  of  the  restaurant,  one  of  them  will  come  forward,  and  with  bloated  hand  wiping  the 
intoxicant  from  the  lip,  will  say,  "  Put  her  out  !  "  Then  I  see  her  going  out  on  the  abutment 
of  the  bridge,  and  looking  off  upon  the  river,  glassy  in  the  moonlight,  and  wondering  if 
somewhere  under  the  glassy  surface  of  that  river  there  is  not  a  place  of  rest  for  a  broken 
heart.  Woe  to  the  man  that  despoils  his  home.  Better  that  he  had  never  been  born.  I  offer 
home  as  a  preventive,  as  an  inspiration,  as  a  restraint.     Floating  off  from  that,  beware ! 

Blunder  the  next :  the  formation  of  unwise  domestic  relation.  And  now  I  nuist 
be  verv  careful.  It  is  so  with  both  sexes.  Some  of  the  loveliest  women  have  been 
married  to  the  meanest  men.  That  is  not  poetry,  that  is  prose.  The  queerest  man  in 
the  Bible  was  Nabal,  but  he  was  the  husband  of  beautiful  Abigail.  We  are  prodigal 
with  our  compassion  when  a  noble  woman  is  joined  to  a  husband  of  besotted  habits, 
but  in  thousands  of  the  homes  of  our  country,  belonging  to  men  too  stingy  to  be 
dissipated,  you  may  find  female  excellencies  which  have  no  opportunity  for  development.  If 
a  man  be  cross  and  grudgeful  and  unobliging  and  censorious  in  his  household,  he  is  more  of 
a  pest  than  if  he  were  dead  drunk,  for  then  he  could  be  managed.  It  is  a  sober  fact  which 
every  one  has  noticed  that  thousands  of  men  of  good  business  capabilities  have  been 
entirely  defeated  in  life  because  their  domestic  relations  were  not  of  the  right  kind.  This 
thought  has  its  most  practical  bearing  on  the  \-oung  who  yet  have  the  world  before  them 
and  where  to  choose.  There  is  probably  no  one  in  this  house  who  has  been  unfortunate  in 
the  forming  of  the  relation  I  have  mentioned  ;  but  if  you  should  happen  to  meet  with  any 


NATIVE    SAII.IIRS    nv    THE    SOUTH    SKA. 


I90  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

married  man  in  such  an  unfortunate  predicament  as  I  have  mentioned,  tell  him  I  have  no 
advice  to  give  except  to  tell  him  to  keep  his  courage  up,  and  whistle  most  of  the  time,  and 
put  into  practice  what  the  old  lady  said.  She  said  she  had  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  her 
time,  but  she  had  always  been  consoled  by  that  beautiful  passage  of  Scripture,  the  thirteenth 
verse  of  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Nicodemus  :  "  Grin  and  bear  it." 

Socrates  had  remarkable  philosophy  in  bearing  tlie  ills  of  an  unfortunate  alliance. 
Xantippe,  having  scolded  him  without  any  evident  effect,  threw  upon  him  a  pail  of  water. 
All  he  did  was  to  exxlaim  :  "  I  thought  that  after  so  nuicli  thunder  we  would  be  apt  to 
have  some  rain."  It  is  hardly  possible  that  a  business  man  should  be  thriftless  if  he  have 
a  companion  always  ready  to  encourage  and  assist  him — ready  to  make  sacrifices  until  his 
affairs  may  allow  more  opportunity  for  luxuries.  If  during  the  day  a  man  has  been 
harassed  and  disappointed,  hard  chased  of  notes  and  defrauded,  and  he  find  in  his  home 
that  evening  a  cheerful  sympathy,  he  will  go  back  next  day  to  his  place  of  business  with 
his  courage  up,  fearless  of  protests,  and  able,  from  ten  to  three  o'clock,  to  look  any  bank 
full  in  the  face.  During  the  financial  panic  of  1S57  there  was  many  a  man  who  went 
through  unabashed  because  while  down  in  the  business  uiarts  he  knew  that  although  all 
around  him  they  were  thinking  only  of  themselves,  there  was  one  sympathetic  heart 
thinking  of  him  all  day  long,  and  willing,  if  the  worst  should  come,  to  go  with  him  to  an 
humble  home  on  an  unfashionable  street,  without  murmuring,  on  a  sewing  machine  to 
play,  "The  Song  of  the  Shirt."  Hundreds  of  fortunes  that  have  been  ascribed  to  the 
industry  of  men  bear  upon  them  the  mark  of  a  wife's  hand.  Bergham,  the  artist,  was  as 
lazy  as  he  was  talented.  His  studio  was  over  the  room  where  his  wife  sat.  Every  few 
minutes,  all  day  long,  to  keep  her  husband  from  idleness,  Mrs.  Bergham  would  take  a  stick 
and  thump  up  against  the  ceiling,  and  her  husband  would  answer  by  stamping  on  the 
floor,  the  signal  that  he  was  wide  awake  and  busy.  One-half  of  the  industry  and 
punctuality  that  you  witness  every  day  in  places  of  business  is  merely  the  result  of  Mrs. 
Bergham's  stick  thumping  against  the  ceiling.  But  woe  to  the  man  who  has  an  experience 
anything  like  the  afflicted  parson,  who  said  that  he  had  during  his  life  three  wives :  the 
first  was  very  rich,  the  second  very  handsome,  and  the  third  an  outrageous  temper  :  "  So," 
says  he,  "  I  have  had  'the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.'  "  Want  of  domestic  economy 
has  ruined  many  a  fine  business.  I  have  known  a  delicate  woman  strong  enough  to  carry 
off  her  husband's  store  on  her  back  and  not  half  try.  I  have  known  men  running  the 
gauntlet  between  angry  creditors  while  the  wife  was  declaring  large  and  unprecedented 
dividends  among  milliners'  and  confectioners'  shops.  I  have  known  men,  as  the  phrase 
goes,  "  With  their  nose  to  the  grindstone,"  and  the  wife  most  vigorously  turning  the  crank. 
Solomon  says :  "  A  good  wife  is  from  the  Lord,"  but  took  it  for  granted  that  we  might 
easily  guess  where  the  other  kind  comes  from.  There  is  no  excuse  for  a  man's  picking  up 
a  rough  flint  like  that  and  placing  it  so  near  his  heart,  when  the  world  is  so  full  of  polished 
jewels.  And  let  me  say,  there  never  was  a  time  since  the  world  stood  when  there  were  so 
many  good  and  noble  women  as  there  are  now.  And  I  have  come  to  estimate  a  man's 
character  somewhat  by  his  appreciation  of  womanly  character.  If  a  man  have  a  depressed 
idea  cf  womanly  character  he  is  a  bad  man,  and  there  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  But 
there  have  been  men  who  at  the  marriage  altar  thought  they  were  annexing  something 
more  valuable  than  Cuba,  who  have  found  otrt  that  after  all  they  have  got  only  an  album, 
a  fashion  plate  and  a  medicine  chest. 

Many  a  man  reeling  under  the  blow  of  misfortune  has  been  held  up  by  a  wife's  arm,  a 
wife's  prayer,  a  wife's  decision,  and  has  blessed  God  that  one  was  sent  from  heaven  thus  to 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


191 


strengthen  him  ;  while  many  a  man  in  comfortable  circumstances  has  had  his  lilV  pestered 
out  of  him  by  a  shrew,  who  met  him  at  the  door  at  night,  with  biscuit  that  the  servant  let 
fall  in  the  fire,  and  dragging  out  the  children  to  whom  she  had  promised  a  flogging  as  soon 
as  the  "old  man  "  came  home,  to  the  scene  of  domestic  felicity.  And  what  a  case  that  was^ 
where  a  husband  and  wife  sat  at  the  opposite  ends  of  the  tea  table,  and  a  bitter  controversy 
came  np  between  them,  and 
the  wife  picked  np  a  tea  cup 
and  Imrled  it  at  her  husband'> 
head,  and  it  glanced  past  and 
broke  all  to  pieces  a  beautiful 
motto  on  the  wall  enti t leil 
"  God  bless  our  happy  home  !  " 
There  are  thousands  of  women 
who  are  the  joy  and  the  adorn- 
ment of  our  American  homes, 
combining  with  elegant  tastes 
in  the  arts  and  every  accom- 
plishment which  our  best  sem- 
inaries and  the  highest  style 
of  literature  can  bestow  upon 
them,  an  industr}-  and  practi- 
cality which  always  insure  do- 
mestic happiness  and  pros- 
perity. Mark  you,  I  do  not 
say  the}'  will  insure  a  large 
number  of  dollars.  A  large 
number  of  dollars  are  not  ne- 
cessary for  happiness.  I  have 
seen  a  house  with  thirty  rooms 
in  it  and  they  were  the  vesti- 
bule of  perdition,  and  I  have 
seen  a  home  with  two  rooms  in 
it,  and  they  were  the  vestibule 
of  heav^en.  You  cannot  tell  by 
the  size  of  a  man's  hotise  the 
size  of  his  happiness.  As 
Alexander  the  Great  with  pride 
showed  the  Persian  princesses 
garments  made  by  his  own 
mother,  so  the  women  of  whom 
I  have  been  speaking  can  show 
you  the  triumphs  of  their 
adroit  womanly  fingers.  They  are  as  expert  in  the  kitchen  as  the\-  are  graceful  in  the 
parlor,  if  need  be,  they  go  there.  And  let  me  sa}*  that  that  is  my  idea  of  a  lady,  one  who 
will  accommodate  herself  to  any  circumstances  in  which  she  may  be  placed.  If  the 
wheel  of  fortune  turn  in  the  right  direction,  then  she  will  be  prepared  for  that  position. 
If  the  wheel  of  fortune  turn   in  the  wrong  direction  (as  it  is  almost  sure  to  do  at  least 


JFNOLAN    CAVES,    INDIA. 


192  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

once  in  every  man's  llfej  then  she  is  just  as  happy,  and  though  all  the  hired  help  should 
that  morning  make  a  strike  for  higher  wages,  they  will  have  a  good  dinner,  anyhow. 
They  know  without  asking  the  house-keeper  the  difference  between  a  wash  tub  and  a  filter. 
They  never  sew  on  to  a  coat  a  liquorice  drop  for  a  black  button.  They  never  mistake  a 
bread-tray  for  a  cradle.  They  never  administer  Kellinger's  horse  liniment  for  the  baby's 
croup.  Their  accomplishments  are  not  like  honeysuckles  at  your  door,  hung  on  to  a  light 
frame  easily  swayed  in  the  wind,  but  like  unto  the  flowers  planted  in  the  solid  earth  which 
have  rock  under  them.  These  are  the  women  who  make  happy  homes  and  compel  a 
husband  into  thriftiness.  Boarding  schools  are  necessities  of  society.  In  very  small  villages 
and  in  regions  entirely  rural  it  is  sometimes  impossible  to  afford  seminaries  for  the  higher 
branches  of  learning.  Hence,  in  our  larger  places  we  must  have  these  institutions,  and 
they  are  turning  out  upon  the  world  tens  of  thousands  of  young  women  splendidly  qualified 
for  their  positions.  But  there  are,  I  am  sorr\-  to  say,  exceptional  seminaries  for  young 
ladies  which,  instead  of  sending  their  students  back  to  their  homes  with  good  sense  as  well 
as  diplomas,  despatch  them  with  manners  and  behavior  far  from  civilized.  With  the 
promptness  of  a  police  officer  they  arraign  their  old-fashioned  grandfather  for  murdering 
the  King's  English.  Staggering  down  late  to  breakfast  they  excuse  themselves  in  French 
phrase.  The  young  men  who  were  her  friends  when  she  left  the  farm  house  for  the  city 
school,  come  to  greet  her  home  again,  and  shock  her  with  a  hard  hand  that  has  been  on  the 
plough  handle,  or  with  a  broad  English  which  does  not  properly  sound  the  r  or  mince  the  s. 

"  Things  are  so  awkward,  folks  so  impolite, 
Thej-'re  elegantly  pained  from  morn  'till  night." 

Once  she  could  run  at  her  father's  heel  in  the  cool  furrow  on  the  summer  day,  or  with 
bronzed  cheek  chase  through  the  meadows  gathering  the  wild  flowers  which  fell  at  the 
stroke  of  the  harvesters,  while  the  strong  men  with  their  sleeves  rolled  up  looked  down  at 
her  not  knowing  which  most  to  admire,  the  daisies  in  her  hair  or  the  roses  in  her  cheeks, 
and  saying:  "Bless  me!  Isn't  that  Ruth  gleaning  after  the  reapers?"  Coming  home 
with  health  gone,  her  father  paid  the  tuition  bill,  but  Madame  Nature  sent  in  an  account 
something  like  this : 

Miss  Ophelia  Angelina  to  Madame  Nature,  Dr. 

To  one  years'  neglect  of  exercise 15  chills. 

To  twenty  nights'  of  late  retiring 75  twitches  of  the  nerves. 

To  several  months'  of  improper  diet A  lifetime  of  dysoepsia. 

Added  up  making  in  all  an  exhausted  system,  chronic  neuralgia  and  a  couple  of  fits. 
Call  in  Dr.  Pillsbury  and  uncork  the  camphor  bottle;  but  it  is  too  late.  What  an 
adornment  such  a  one  will  be  to  the  house  of  some  }oung  merchant,  or  lawyer,  or 
mechanic,  or  farmer.  That  man  will  be  a  drudge  while  he  lives,  and  he  will  be  a  drudge 
when  he  dies. 

Blunder  the  next :  Attempting  life  without  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  and  enterprise. 
Over  caution  on  one  side,  and  reckless  speculation  on  the  other  side  must  be  avoided  ;  but 
a  determined  and  enthirsiastic  progi'ess  must  always  characterize  the  man  of  thrift.  I 
think  there  is  no  such  man  in  all  the  world  as  he  who  is  descended  from  a  New  England 
Yankee  on  the  one  side,  and  a  New  York  Dutchman  on  the  other.  That  is  ro^-al  blood, 
and  will  almost  invariably  give  a  man  prosperity,  the  Yankee  in  his  nature  saying :  "Go 
ahead,"  and  the  Dutch,  in  his  blood,  saying:  "  Be  prudent  while  you  do  go  ahead."     The 


194  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

main  characteristics  of  the  Yankee  are  invention  and  enterprise.  The  main  characteristics 
of  the  Dutchman  are  prudence  and  firmness,  for  when  he  says  "  Yaw,"  he  means  "  Yaw," 
and  you  no  cliange  him.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  Americans  are  short-lived,  and  they 
run  themselves  to  pieces;  We  deny  this.  An  American  lives  a  great  deal  in  a  little 
while — twenty-four  hours  in  ten  minutes. 

In  the  Revolutionary  war  American  enterprise  was  discovered  by  somebody  who, 
describing  the  capture  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  put  in  his  mouth  these  words : 

"  I  thought  five  thousand  men  or  less 
Through  all  these  States  might  safely  pass. 
My  error  now  I  see  too  late, 
Here  I'm  confined  within  this  State. 
Yes,  in  this  little  spot  of  ground. 
Enclosed  by  Yankees  all  around. 
In  Europe  ne'er  let  it  be  known, 
Nor  publish  it  in  Askelon, 
Lest  the  uncircunicieed  rejoice, 
And  distant  nations  join  their  voice. 
What  would  my  friends  in  Britain  say, 
I  wrote  them  I  had  gained  the  day. 
Some  things  now  strike  me  with  surprise, 
First,  I  believe  the  Tory  lies. 
What  also  brought  me  to  this  plight 
I  thought  the  Ypnkees  would  not  fight. 
My  error  now  I  see  too  late. 
Here  I'm  confined  within  this  State. 
Yes,  in  this  little  spot  of  ground. 
Enclosed  by  Yankees  all  around. 
Where  I'm  so  cramped  and  hemmed  about, 
The  devil  himself  could  not  get  out." 

From  that  time  American  enterprise  has  continued  developing,  sometimes  toward  the 
right  and  sometimes  toward  the  wrong.  Men  walk  faster,  think  faster,  drive  faster,  lie  faster, 
and  swear  faster.  New  sciences  have  sprung  up  and  carried  off  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
Phrenology,  a  science  which  I  believe  will  yet  be  developed  to  a  thorough  consistency,  in  its 
incomplete  stage  puts  its  hand  on  your  head,  as  a  musician  on  a  piano,  and  plays  out  the 
entire  tune  of  your  character,  whether  it  be  a  grand  march  or  a  jig ;  sometimes  by  mistake 
announcing  that  there  are  in  the  head  benevolence,  music,  and  sublimity,  when  there  is 
about  the  same  amount  of  intellect  under  the  hair  of  the  subject's  head  as  in  an  ordinarj^ 
hair  trunk ;  sometimes  forgeting  that  wickedness  and  crime  are  chargeable,  not  so  much  to 
bumps  on  the  head  as  to  bumps  on  the  heart.  Mesmerism,  an  old  science,  has  been  revived 
in  our  day.  This  system  was  started  from  the  fact  that  in  ancient  times  the  devotees  of 
Esculapixts  were  put  to  sleep  in  his  temple,  a  mesmeric  feat  sometimes  performed  on  modern 
worshipers.  Incurable  diseases  are  said  to  slink  away  before  the  dawn  of  this  science  like 
ghosts  at  cock-crowing,  and  a  man  under  its  influence  may  have  a  tooth  extracted  or  his 
head  amputated  without  discovering  the  important  fact  until  he  comes  to  his  sen.ses.  The 
operator  will  compel  a  sick  person  in  clair\'oyant  state  to  tell  whether  his  own  liver  or  heart  is 
diseased,  when  if  his  subject  were  awake  he  would  not  be  wise  enough  to  know  a  heart  from 
a  liver.  If  you  have  had  property  stolen,  on  the  payment  of  one  dollar — mind  that — they 
■will  tell  you  where  it  is,  and  who  stole  it,  and  even  if  they  do  not  make  the  matter  perfectly 
plain,  they  have  bettered  it ;  it  does  not  all  remain  a  mystery  ;  you  know  where  the  dollar  went. 

There  are  aged  men  and  women  here  who  have  lived  through  marvelous  changes.  The 
world  is  a  very  different  place  from  what  it  was  when  you  were  boys  and  girls.     The  world's 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


195 


enterprise  has  accomplished  wonders  in  \  our  age.  The  broad -brimmed  hat  of  olden  times 
was  an  illustration  of  the  broad-bottomed  character  of  the  father,  and  the  modern  hat.  risine 
high  up  as  the  pipe  of  a  steam  engine,  illustrates  the  locomotive  in  modern  character.  In 
those  da>-s  of  powdered  hair  and  silver  shoe  buckles,  the  coat  extended  over  an  immense 
area  and  would  have  been  unpardonably  long  had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  when  the  old 

gentleman    doffed    the    gar-  

ment  it  furnished  the  whole  ['  i  *  ^^3f;.'5'-- 
family  of  boys  with  a  Sun- 
day wardrobe.  Grandfather 
on  rainy  daj's  shelled  corn 
or  broke  flax  in  the  barn, 
and  in  the  evening  with 
grandmother  went  round  to 
visit  a  neighbor  where  the 
men  sit  smoking  their  pipes 
by  the  jambs  of  the  broad 
fire-place,  telling  of  a  fox 
chase,  or  heats  at  mowing 
without  once  getting  bushed, 
and  gazing  upon  the  flames 
as  they  sissed  and  simmered 
around  the  great  back  log. 
and  leaped  up  through  the 
light  wood  to  lick  off  the 
moss,  and  shrugging  their 
shoulders  satisfactorily  as 
the  wild  night  wind  screamed 
round  the  gable,  and  clat- 
tered the  shutters,  and 
clicked  the  icicles  from  the 
eaves,  and  Tom  brought  in 
a  blue-edged  dish  of  great 
"Fall  pippins,"  and  "  Dair- 
claushes"  and  "Henry 
Sweets,"  and  "Granny- 
winkles,"  and  the  nuts  all 
lose  their  hearts  sooner  than 
if  the  squirrels  were  there, 
and  the  grandmothers  talk- 
ing and  knitting,  talking 
and  knitting,  until  John  in 
tow  pants,  or  Mary  in  linsey- 
woolsey,  by  shaking  the  old  lady's  arm  for  just  one  more  "  Grannywinkle,"  makes  her  most 
provokingly  drop  a  stitch,  and  forthwith  the  youngsters  are  despatched  to  bed  by  the  star- 
light that  drips  through  the  thatched  garret  chinks. 

Where  is  now  the  old-fashioned  fire-place  where  the  andirons  in  a  thrilling  duet  sang 
"  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  while  the  hook   and   trammels  beat   time  ?     Great  solemn  stoves 


196  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

have  taken  tlieir  place,  where  dim  fires,  like  pale  ghosts,  look  out  of  the  isinglass,  and  from 
which  comes  the  gassy,  breath  of  coal,  instead  of  the  breath  of  mountain  oak  and  sassafras. 
One  icicle  frozen  to  each  chair  and  sofa  is  called  a  sociable,  and  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness is  congealed  into  society — that  modern  freezer  warranted  to  do  it  in  five  minutes.     You 
iiave  also  witnessed  a  change  in  matters  of  religion.     I  think  there  is  more  religion  now  in 
■fthe  world  than  there  ever  was,  but  people  sometimes  have  a  queer  wa)-  of  showing  it.     For 
instance,  in  the  matter  of  church  music.    The  musical  octave  was  once  an  eight-rung  ladder, 
•on  which  our  old  fathers  could  climb  up  to  heaven  from  their  church  pew.     Now,  the 
minstrels  are  robbed  every  Sunday.     The  pious  old  tunes  which  our  fathers  sang  have  gone 
nvith  them  to  glory.     This  old  psalm  on  brotherly  love  was  once  magnificently  chanted  : 
""  It  is  like  the  precious  ointment  upon  the  head,  that  ran  down   upon   the   beard,  even 
Aaron's  beard,  that  went  down  to  the  skirts  of  h's  garment."     Now,  it  is  sung  to  a  fugue 
tune,  and  the  different  voices  come  in  as  follows : 

"  True  love  is  like  that  precious  oil, 

That  ran  down  his  beard  and  o'er  his  head, 

His  head  ran  down  his  beard.  \ 

And  o'er  his  head  his  beard  ran  down, 

His  down,  his  down,  its  moisture  shed. 

Ran  down  his  beard,  ran  down  his  shed. 
Ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down. 
Ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down. 

His  shed  ran  down  his  beard. 
And  o'er  Ins  shed  his  beard  ran  down. 
Ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down,  ran  down." 

The  plain  English  of  which  I  take  to  be  that  Aaron,  the  priest,  had  an  awful  time  with 
his  whiskers.  On  one  occasion  after  this  fugue  was  executed,  a  spectator  expressed  the  fear 
that  after  Aaron  the  priest  had  gone  through  such  a  process  as  that  he  could  not  have  had 
a  hair  left.  That  was  advancement  in  the  wrong  direction.  But,  oh,  what  progress  in  the 
right  direction.  There  goes  the  old  stage-coach  hung  on  leather  suspenders.  Swing  and 
bounce.  Swing  and  bounce.  Old  grey  balky,  and  sorrel  lame.  Wheel  fast  in  the  rut, 
"  All  together,  yo  heave  !"  On  the  morning  air  you  heard  the  stroke  of  the  reaper's  rifle  on 
the  scythe  getting  ready  to  fight  its  way  through  the  swaths  of  thick  set  meadow  grass. 
Now,  we  do  nearly  all  these  things  by  machinery.  A  man  went  all  the  way  from  New 
York  to  Buffalo  on  an  express  train,  and  went  so  rapidly  that  he  said  in  all  the  distance  he 
saw  but  two  objects.  Two  haystacks,  and  they  were  going  the  other  way.  The  small  par- 
ticles of  iron  are  taken  from  their  bed  and  melted  into  liquid,  and  run  out  into  bars,  and 
spread  into  sheets,  and  turned  into  screws,  and  the  boiler  begins  to  groan,  and  the  valves  to 
open,  and  the  shafts  to  fly,  and  the  steamboat  going,  "  Tschoo  !  Tschoo  !  Tschoo  !"  shoots 
across  the  Atlantic,  making  it  a  ferry,  and  all  the  world  one  neighborhood.  In  olden  times 
they  put  out  a  fire  by  buckets  of  water,  or  rather  did  not  put  it  out.  Now,  in  nearly  all 
our  cities  we  put  out  a  fire  by  steam.  But  where  they  haven't  come  to  this,  there  still  has 
been  great  improvement.  Hark  !  There  is  a  cry  in  the  street :  "  Fire  !  Fire  !''  The  fire- 
men are  coming,  and  they  front  the  building,  and  they  hoist  the  ladders,  and  they  run  up 
with  the  hose,  and  the  orders  are  given,  and  the  engines  begin  to  work,  and  beat  down  the 
flames  that  smote  the  heavens.  And  the  hook  and  ladder  compan}-  with  long  arms  of  wood 
and  fingers  of  iron  begin  to  feel  on  the  top  of  the  hot  wall  and  begin  to  pull.  She  moves  ! 
She  rocks  !  vStand  from  under  !  vShe  falls  !  flat  as  the  walls  of  Jericho  at  the  blast  of  the 
ram's  horns,  and  the  excited  populous  clap  their  hands,  and  wave  their  caps,  shouting 
"  Hurrah,  hurrah  !" 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


197 


Now,  in  an  age  like  this,  what  will  become  of  a  man  if  in  every  nerve  and  muscle  and 
bone  he  does  not  have  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  and  enterprise?  Why,  he  will  drop  down 
and  be  forgotten,  as  he  ought  to  be.  He  who  cannot  swim  in  tliis  current  will  drown. 
Young  man,  make  up  your  mind  what  you  ought  to  be,  and  then  start  out.  And  let  me 
say,  there  has  never  been  so  good  a  time  to  start  as  just  now.  I  care  not  which  way  you 
look,  the  world  seems  brightening.  Open  the  map  of  the  world,  close  your  eyes,  swing 
your  finger  over  the  map  of  the  world,  let  your  finger  drop  accidentally,  and  I  am  almost 
sure  it  will  drop  on  a  part  of  the  world  that  is  brightening.  You  open  the  map  of  the 
world,  close  your  eyes,  swing  your  finger  over 
the  map,  it  drops  accidentally.  Spain  !  Coming 
to  a  better  form  of  government.  What  is  that 
light  breaking  over  the  top  of  the  P)renees? 
"  The  morning  cometh  !  "  You  open  the  map 
of  the  world  again,  close  your  eyes,  and  swing 
your  finger  over  the  map.  It  drops  accidentally. 
Italy  !  The  truth  going  on  from  conquest  to 
conquest.  What  is  that  light  breaking  over 
the  top  of  the  Alps?  "  The  morning  cometh  ! "' 
You  open  the  map  of  the  world  again,  you  close 
your  eyes,  and  swing  your  finger  over  the  map, 
and  your  finger  drops  accidentally.  India ! 
Juggernauts  of  cruelty  broken  to  pieces  by  the 
chariot  of  the  Gospel.  What  is  that  light  break- 
ing over  the  tops  of  Himalaya  ?  "  The  morn- 
ing cometh  !  "  The  army  of  Civilization  and 
Christianity  is  made  up  of  two  wings,  the 
English  wing  and  the  American  wing.  The 
American  wing  of  the  army  of  Civilization  and 
Christianity  will  march  across  this  continent. 
On,  over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  over  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  on  to  the  beach  of  tlie  Pacific, 
and  then  right  through,  dry  shod,  to  the  Asiatic 
shore.  And  on  across  Asia,  and  on,  and  on, 
until  it  comes  to  the  Holy  Land  and  halts. 
The  English  wing  of  the  anny  of  Civilization 
and  Christianity  will  move  across  Europe,  on 
and  on,  until  it  comes  to  the  Holy  Land  and 
halts.  And  when  these  two  wings  of  the  army 
of  Civilization  and  Christianity  shall  confront  each  other,  having  encircled  the  world, 
there  will  go  up  such  a  shout  as  the  world  heard  never  :  "  Hallelujah,  for  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth  ! " 

People  who  have  not  seen  the  tides  rise  at  the  beach  do  not  understand  them.  Some 
man  who  has  never  before  visited  the  seashore  comes  down  as  the  tide  is  rising.  The  wave 
comes  to  a  certain  point  and  then  retreats,  and  he  says  :  "  The  tide  is  going  out,  the  sea  is 
going  down."  No,  the  tide  is  rising,  for  the  next  wave  comes  to  a  higher  point  and  then 
recoils.  He  says  :  "  Certainly,  the  tide  is  going  out,  and  the  sea  is  going  down."  No,  the 
tide  is  rising,  for  the  ne.xt  wave  comes  to  a  higher  point  and  then  recoils,  and  to  a  higher, 


DAVID  JAMAL,    OUR    DRAGOMAN. 


198 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


and  liiolier  and  liigher  point  nntil  it  is  fnll  tide.  So,  with  the  advance  of  civilization  and 
Christianit)-  in  the  world.  In  one  decade  the  wave  comes  to  a  certain  point  and  then 
recoils  for  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  people  say  the  world  is  getting  worse,  and  the  tides  of 
civilization  and  Christianit}-  are  going  down.  No,  the  tide  is  rising,  for  the  ne.xt  time  the 
wave  reaches  to  a  still  higher  point  and  recoils,  and  to  a  still  liigher  point  and  recoils,  and 
to  a  higher  and  a  higher  and  a  higher  point  nntil  it  shall  be  full  tide,  and  the  "  Earth  shall 
be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  God  as  the  waters  fill  the  sea."  At  such  a  time  you  start  out. 
There  is  some  especial  work  for  you  to  do. 

I  was  very  nnich  tlirilled,  as  I  suppose  \-ou  were,  with  the  stor\'  of  the  old  engineer  on 
his  locomotive  crossing  the  Western  prairie  day  after  da>-  and  month  after  month.  A  little 
child  would  come  out  in  front  of  her  fatlier's  cabin  and  wave  to  the  old  engineer  and  he 
would  wave  back  again.  It  became  one  of  the  joys  of  the  old  engineer's  life,  this  little 
child  coming  out  and  waving  to  him  and  he  waving  back.  But  one  da\-  the  train  was 
belated  and  night  came  on,  and  by  the  flash  of  tlie  head-liglit  of  the  locomotive  the  old 
engineer  saw  tliat  child  on  the  track.  She  knew  not  her  peril.  She  had  come  out  to  look 
for  the  old  engineer.  When  the  engineer  saw  the  child  on  tlie  track  a  great  horror  froze  his 
soul,  and  he  reversed  the  engine  and  leaped  over  on  the  cow-catcher,  and  though  the  train 
was  slowing  up,  and  slowing  up,  it  seemed  to  the  old  engineer  as  if  it  were  gaining  in 
velocit}-.  But,  standing  there  on  the  cow-catcher,  he  waited  for  his  opportunity,  and  with 
almost  supernatural  clutch  he  seized  lier  and  fell  back  upon  the  cow-catcher.  The  train 
halted,  the  passengers  came  around  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  there  lay  the  old 
engineer  on  the  cow-catcher,  fainted  dead  away,  the  little  child  in  his  arms  all  unhurt.  He 
saved  her.  Grand  thing,  you  say,  for  the  old  engineer  to  do.  Yes,  just  as  grand  a  thing  foi 
you  to  do.  There  are  long  trains  of  disaster  coming  on  toward  that  soul.  Yonder  are  long 
trains  of  disaster  coming  on  toward  another  soul.  You  go  out  in  the  strength  of  the  Eternal 
God  and  with  supernatural  clutch  save  some  one,  some  man,  some  woman,  some  child. 
You  can  do  it. 


1;.\TH. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GATE    OF    DEPARTURE. 

S  we  entered  Australia  at  the  Sapphire  Gate  of  Sydney,  we  are  about  to  leave 
through  the  golden  gate  of  a  bright  morning  in  Adelaide. 

Near  the  end  of  my  preaching  and  lecturing  tour  of  Australia  am  I.  It 
might  be  asked  why  should  one  in  my  profession  not  always  preach  and  never 
lecture.  Answer — A  journey  around  the  world  properh-  accompanied  is  a  very  expensive 
journe}-,  and  I  lectured  to  meet  that  expense.  Beside  that,  the  building  of  three  immense 
churches  in  America,  all  of  them  destroyed  by  fire,  cost  much  personal  sacrifice.  The 
$16,000  I  paid  in  cash  toward  those  buildings  and  five  years  preaching  practicalh-  without 
salary,  and  an  evangelistic  tour  in  Europe  two  years  ago  whicli  cost  me  personally,  $5000, 
will  suggest  to  most  people  the  use  which  might  be  made  of  the  moneys  received  for 
lecturing.  But  I  have  preached  in  all  the  great  cities  of  New  Zealand  and  Australia. 
Other  clergymen  traveling  generally  have  their  way  paid  by  benevolent  persons  or  societies, 
I  pa}'  my  own  expenses. 

If  my  preaching  services  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  ever  described,  others,  for 
the  most  part,  will  describe  them.  My  Sabbath  at  Melbourne  was  a  type  of  all  the 
Sabbaths.  Passing  along  the  great  Town  Hall,  the  largest  auditorium  of  the  city — 
although  the  preaching  service  was  not  to  begin  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon — at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  saw  the  audience  gathering,  ladies  spreading  their  shawls  on  the 
stone  steps  to  sit  there  until  the  doors  were  opened.  When  I  approached  the  Town  Hall, 
a  little  before  three  o'clock,  I  could  make  no  progress  through  the  streets  except  by  the  aid 
of  the  police,  and  it  was  a  struggle  every  step  of  the  way.  Finding  it  impossible  to  get 
any  further  than  the  outside  steps,  I  preached  a  short  sermon  there.  By  a  reinforcement  we 
finally  got  to  the  door  and  entered.  The  ^Moderator  of  the  General  Assembh-  who  was  to 
have  presided  did  not  get  in  at  all.  The  service  went  on  until  nearly  the  close,  when  the 
mayor  of  the  city  came  upon  the  platform  to  utter  some  words  of  thanks,  and  those  who 
had  charge  of  the  doors  opened  them  to  let  the  people  out,  but  the  tide  from  without  rushed 
in,  and  a  panic  would  have  taken  place  had  not  the  organist  begun  to  play  the  Doxology. 
This  quieted  everything.  The  mayor,  however,  had  promised  that  I  would  preach  again 
from  the  balcony,  and  so  about  a  half  hour  afterward  I  spoke  to  the  people  still  crowding 
the  streets.  And  so  it  went  on  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  and  I  hope  some  good  was  done, 
but  the  Great  Future  will  reveal. 

^s  the  Antipodean  section  of  my  journey  is  about  to  close,  I  am  disposed  to  recall  the 
faces  of  some  of  the  more  pronounced  and  eminent  people  whom  I  have  met.  Among  the 
strong  personalities  of  these  Australian  experiences  is  Sir  Henr}-  Norman,  now  Governor  of 
Queensland,  but  his  name  is  associated  with  the  horrors  of  Lucknow,  into  which  he  rode 
with  Havelock,  Outram  and  Peel,  for  the  rescue  of  the  women  and  children  imprisoned  and 
waiting  for  massacre.  I  said  to  him,  "  Sir  Henn,',  you  are  the  first  person  I  have  seen  who 
was  at  Lucknow.  Please  tell  us  about  it."  He  pointed  out  to  me  on  a  picture  in  his 
drawing-room  the  meeting  of  the  generals  in  India,  forgetting  to  point  himself  out,  until  I 
asked  which  figure  in  the  engraving  was  himself.  As  a  few  days  after  he  sat  before  me, 
with  his  family  and  his  suite  in  a  great  assemblage,  I  was  almost  diverted  from  what  I  was 

(199) 


200 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


saying  to  the  memory  of  the  scene  through  which  that  Scottish  hero  had  passed.  But 
instead  of  riding  in  full  gallop,  with  torn  epaulet  and  face  covered  with  powder  and  blood, 
now  he  sits  with  countenance  radiant  with  peace  and  Christian  kindness.  No  wonder  he  was 
recently  appointed  by  the  English  Government  as  Viceroy  of  India,  at  a  salary  of  $125,000 
a  year — the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  Queen — instead  of  the  $25,000  he  is  now 
receiving.  But  after  accepting  the  appointment  and  being  all  packed  up  for  India — as  His 
Ladyship  told  us — his  boxes  at  the  door — he  withdrew  his  acceptance  on  conditions  of 
health.  No  man  can  pass  through  that  which  he  has  passed  through  without  having  it  tell 
upon  his  physical  endurance.  Great  is  the  rejoicing  all  through  Australia  that  he  remains 
in  the  Go\'ernor's  chair.  There  is  no  more  popular  Governor  in  all  these  colonies  than  the 
genial,  talented,  heroic,  immortal  and  Christian,  Sir  Henry  Norman. 

Among  those  who  have  passed  a  lifetime  in  Australia,  the  most  marked  character,  the 
most  warmly  admired  by  many  and  the  most  bitterl}-  hated  by  some,  is  Sir  Henrv  Parkes. 

Coming  to  Australia  a  poor  baker's  bo)-,  he  after- 
ward learned  the  printer's  trade  and  soon  pub- 
lished a  newspaper  of  his  own,  setting  up  his  own 
type  and  carrying  the  forms  to  the  press  on  his 
own  shoulder.  He  rose  in  influence  and  power 
until  he  could  and  did  show  me  on  the  walls  of 
his  house,  pictures  of  the  men  who  had  made  up 
the  five  different  governments  of  his  fashioning. 
What  Bismarck  has  been  to  Germany,  and  Glad- 
stone to  England,  and  Sir  George  Grey  to  New 
Zealand,  Sir  Henry  Parkes  has  been  to  New 
South  Wales.  Though  eighty-two  years  of  age, 
he  led  us  briskly  up  and  down  stairs  in  his  own 
house  on  the  outskirts  of  Sydney,  showing  us  as 
many  objects  of  interest  as  I  ever  saw  in  the  same 
length  of  time.  He  unrolled  to  us  from  his 
autograph  books,  full,  hearty  and  sympathetic 
letters  from  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  Thomas 
Carlyle,  and  Tennyson,  and  Cobden,  and  Jolm 
Bright,  and  John  Stuart  Mill,  and  President 
Grant,  and  Cyrus  W.  Field,  and  eminent  men  in 
all  departments  and  all  nations.  Notwithstanding  he  is  a  little  bent  with  age,  and  snow  on 
his  long  beard  would  not  make  it  any  whiter,  he  looks  as  though  he  had  years  of  work 
and  command  before  him.  He  has  a  vivid  remembrance  of  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him 
in  New  York  by  the  commercial  and  literary  magnates  of  America,  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid 
presiding,  and  the  national  escort  afforded  him  across  our  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean. 
He  is  out  of  office  now,  but  his  enemies  are  trembling  every  time  he  takes  his  pen  in  hand, 
or  walks  up  the  steps  of  the  government  building.  He  is  the  kind  of  man  nothing  can  keep 
down  except  his  own  sepulcher.  Rugged,  bluff,  positive,  assertive,  defiant,  volcanic,  reckless 
of  what  others  say  or  do.  Had  he  been  a  soldier,  he  would  have  belonged  to  the  cavalry 
and  rode  ahead  of  some  "light  brigade."  Had  he  been  a  sailor,  he  would  have  been  a 
Captain  Cook  and  found  some  other  Australia,  had  there  been  another  to  find.  His  eye,  his 
shaggy  brow,  his  lion-like  face,  his  wit,  two-edged,  his  raillery,  his  confidence  in  himself  to 
do  all  that  ought  to  be  done,  is  something  that  impresses  you  at  the  time,  and  keeps  you 


SIR   IIii.Ni; 


111.    MjW    AITliARS. 


(20ll 


202  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

impressed  whenever  you  think  of  him.  He  gives  himself  up  to  his  guests,  until  one  feels 
he  has  no  right  to  so  much  of  the  time  of  a  busy  and  absorbed  man.  His  enemies  have 
extinguished  him  times  without  number,  and  still  he  goes  on,  and  his  opinion  on  everything 
is  more  sought  after  than  the  opinion  of  any  man  in  Australia,  whether  that  opinion  be 
liked  or  reprehended.  His  name  will  go  down  in  history  and  be  associated  with  all  the  great 
movements  connected  with  the  welfare  of  these  colonies.  At  a  banquet  recently  given  him 
on  the  eighty-second  anniversary  of  his  birthday,  he  uttered  this  beautiful  sentiment  about 
his  remaining  days  :  "  Two  things  I  know,  first  that  the  road  is  short,  and  next  that  it  leads 
to  unbroken  rest." 

And  now,  as  I  am  about  to  depart,  I  meet  with  the  two  men  most  honored  in  this  colony 
of  South  Australia.  The  one  is  Chief  Justice  Way,  the  Lieutenant  Governor.  He  is  the 
most  popular  man  in  all  the  colonies,  and  is  widely  known  in  America,  which  he  visited  in 
1892,  as  a  delegate  to  the  great  Methodist  Council  at  Washington.  He  presided  with 
grace  at  my  first  meeting  in  Adelaide,  and  at  his  house  he  had  assembled  to  meet  me  a 
group  of  gentlemen,  clerical  and  lay,  affable  and  talented.  His  house  is  in  the  midst  of  a 
garden  to  which  nothing  could  be  added  in  wealth  of  flowers  and  rare  trees,  and  it  has  in 
the  rear  a  fernery  with  rocks  ingeniously  scarjjed  ;  and  a  very  Minne-ha-ha  of  falling  waters, 
and  an  ornithological  collection  with  an  infinity  of  chirp  and  carol,  and  chatter  and  song. 
But  after  we  had  heard  his  birds  sing  and  breathed  the  fragrance  of  his  garden,  and  looked 
at  the  pictures,  and  walked  through  his  palace  of  a  home,  we  bethought  ourselves  that 
after  all  the  grandest  attraction  of  the  place  is  himself.  He  has  achieved  his  own  fortune. 
The  son  of  a  Primitive  Methodist  minister,  he  had  nothing  to  start  with  but  the  good 
example  and  instruction  of  a  consecrated  parentage ;  but  he  went  right  on  and  up  in  the 
legal  profession  to  the  top  until  there  is  nothing  higher  for  him  to  win  in  these  colonies. 
On  the  side  of  all  that  is  elevating  and  good  he  is  the  pride  and  boast  of  all  who  know 
him.  One  such  man  in  a  nation  is  a  conscious  or  unconscious  lifting  of  the  whole  nation. 
If  South  Australia  should  by  its  own  suffrage,  or  by  the  consent  of  England,  become  an 
independent  nation,  he  would  be  its  first  president.  If  by  federation  of  all  the  colonies 
there  should  be  a  union  of  all  in  one,  he  would  be  the  first  president  of  that.  Long  live 
Chief  Justice  Way,  and  may  the  world  and  the  church  have  many  more  just  like  him! 

Another  vivid  personage  I  met  at  this  departing  gate  of  the  sea  was  the  Earl  of 
Kintore,  Governor  of  South  Australia.  His  invitation,  calling  me  to  the  Executive 
mansion,  did  not  remain  long  unanswered.  One  cannot  help  being  impressed  with 
his  six  feet  three  inches  in  height,  straight  as  a  Parthenon  column,  and  with  brawn  of 
arm  and  blush  of  health  resultant  from  fondness  for  outdoor  sports,  for  the  hounds  love  to 
follow  him,  and  the  steeplechase  is  apt  to  find  him  in  stirrups  or  at  the  goal,  where  the 
lathered  horses  come  in  to  be  blanketed.  Among  my  first  questions  when  I  got  into  the 
Governor's  mansion,  was,  "Have  you  a  picture  of  your  father?"  The  Governor,  without 
rising  from  where  he  sat,  reached  for  a  photograph  and  said,  "  That  is  father."  Sure  enough, 
just  as  I  saw  the  late  Earl  of  Kintore  in  1879  when  he  presided  at  three  of  my  meetings  in 
England  ;  one  in  a  church,  one  at  a  philanthropic  institution,  and  the  other  at  Exeter 
Hall,  on  that  memorable  day  when  the  body  of  the  Prince  Imperial  of  France  was  being 
taken  through  London,  on  its  way  from  Portsmouth,  where  it  had  arrived  by  ship  the  day 
before,  to  Chiselhurst  for  burial  beside  his  father,  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  As  on  that 
day  the  Earl  of  Kintore  was  introducing  me  to  the  people,  in  that  historical  auditorium, 
Exeter  Hall,  the  minute-guns  began  to  throb  for  the  dead  Prince,  and  the  Earl  impressively 
remarked :  "  We  are  assembled  to-day  to  hear  a  lecture  on  '  Bright  and   Happy  Homes,' 


DR.    TALMAGE   ON   THE    DECK   OF   THE   STEAMTt!?    CRnsSlNG   FROM   CEYLON   TO   INDIA. 


(20.-i) 


204 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


but  that  niiuute-gnn  reniiiuls  \\s  of  a  once  bright  and  happy  home  now  desolate.  Our 
sympathies  are  stirred  for  that  )-oung  Prince  Napoleon,  who  died  in  the  service  of  the 
British  Empire.  God  comfort  his  broken-hearted  mother,  the  ex-Empress."  You  see, 
the  present  Earl  of  Kintore,  now  Governor  of  this  colony,  descends  not  from  one  who  had 
nothing  except  the  accident  of  birth,  but  from  one  of  the  noblest  men  Scotland  ever 
produced.     After  parting  from  the  late  Earl  on  the  streets  of  London  in  1879,  on  a  Monday 

i^    „  ..  _  ■ 

having  taken  me  that  night  through  the  darkest 
parts  of  Eondon  to  show  me  the  midnight  charities 
of  which  he  was  a  patron,  I  said  to  my  wife  at  the 
hotel,  "  You  will  never  see  Lord  Kintore  again, 
he  is  too  good  for  this  world.  He  will  soon  be 
taken."  That  was  a  September  night,  and  in  the 
following  July  he  was  lifted  to  the  bright  world 
into  which  he  had  helped  so  manv  by  his  benefi- 
cence and  example.  He  was  one  of  the  dearest 
friends  I  ever  had,  and,  except  my  own  father,  the 
best  man  I  ever  knew.  His  words  at  midnight  in 
the  streets  of  London  were,  "  When  you  get  to 
America  send  me  a  stick  (meaning  a  cane)  and  let 
it  be  of  American  wood,  and  I  will  send  you  a  stick 
from  my  grounds  in  Scotland."  After  my  arrival 
in  Brooklyn  I  received  a  shepherd's  crook,  cut  from 
the  Earl's  estate,  but  before  the  cane  I  bought  for 
him  had  arrived  in  Scotland  the  good  Earl  had 
gone  to  his  rest.  What  a  man  he  was  !  On  week- 
days serving  his  country  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  on  Sundays,  though  not  a  clergyman,  preaching 
in  the  churches,  not  onlv  the  Presbyterian,  the 
denomination  to  which  be  belonged,  but  in  the  e.s- 
tablished  churches.  I  heard  a  rector  of  the  Church 
of  England  chide  him  for  not  coming  to  speak  in 
his  cathedral  the  Sabbath  before.  What  a 
strange  sensation  I  experienced  when  I  re- 
ceived from  the  good  Earl  a  message,  months 
after  his  death,  not  by  spiritualistic  convey- 
ance, but  through  an  American  clergyman, 
who  was  in  Scotland  when  the  Earl  gave  him 
the  message  and  did  not  return  to  America 
until  some  time  afterward.  It  will  be  easily 
understood  why  I  should  be  interested  in  the 
present  Earl  of  Kintore,  and  why  he  received  me  with  so  much  cordialit\'  at  his  Sontli 
Australian  gubernatorial  residence.  The  present  Earl,  whom  I  accompanied  to  the 
cathedral  on  Sabbath  night,  and  with  whom  I  afterward  dined,  is  as  stout  an  English 
churchman  as  his  father  was  a  stout  Presb\-terian  ;  but,  as  Archbishop  Leighton,  tlie 
Anglican  prelate,  and  John  Knox,  the  reformer,  are  probably  spending  the  Sabbath  together 
in  heaven,  it  ought  not  to  startle  us  that  the  present  Earl  of  Kintore  is  a  devout  worshiper 


SUPERSTITIONS   OF   THl!    HINDOOS — AMULETS   TAKEN 
FROM   THE    BODY   OF   TIPPOO   SAHIB. 


THE   WORLD  AS   vSEEN   TO-DAY. 


205 


under  the  forms  and  ceremonies  at  which  Jeannie  Geddies  hurled  tlie  foot-stool  when  they 
were  read  in  her  hearing. 

And  ::ow,  I  turn  my  face  toward  the  sea.  Indeed  the  steamship  IMassilia,  of  the 
"  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Line,"  is  now  panting  in  the  open  roadstead  of  Adelaide,  waiting 
for  passengers.  For  two  months  I  have  had  an  unmingled  delight  with  the  audiences  of 
New  Zealand  and  Australia.  I  have  waded  through  kindness,  chin  deep.  If  one-half  the 
"  God  bless  yous  "  are  answered,  I  will  be  the  happiest  man  on  earth.  Ever\-  night,  except 
when  traveling,  I  spoke  from  an  hour  and  a  half  to  two  hours,  and  generalh'  addressed  the 
clergy  of  the  different  cities  Monday  mornings.  I  have  been  encouraged,  solemnized,  helped,, 
and  rejoiced  more  than  I  can  tell.  'Slay  the  richest  blessings  of  God  abide  on  all  these 
colonies,  whether  they  come  into  grand  confederation  as  man)-  expect,  or  stand  alone,  each 
one  fulfilling  its  mission.  I  hear  the  clang  of  the  opening  doors  of  prosperity  such  as  the 
most  sanguine  political  prophets  have  never  yet  foretold.  With  a  heart  full  of  gratitude  to 
these  people  who  are  seeing  me  off,  and  a  prayer  to  Him  who  walks  the  sea,  and  holds  the 
wind  in  his  fist,  I  step  aboard  the  ocean  steamer.  A  long,  last,  affectionate,  and  prayerful 
good-bye  to  Austral  in. 


COMM.\NDER-IN-CHIEK   OF  THE  BURMHSE    \EMY   IN   COl'RT   DRESS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  ISLE  OF  PALMS. 

OHE  Indian  Ocean  spread  out  both  palms  of  its  hands  to  pass  us  over  from  Australia 
to  Ceylon.  For  the  first  two  or  three  days  it  jolted  us  up  and  down  like  a  rough 
nurse,  to  hint  what  it  could  do  if  it  liked.  But  soon  it  became  a  quiet  swing 
that  put  us  under  everlasting  obligation,  our  ship  running  a  new  furrow  across  a 
new  field  blue  as  violets,  that  furrow  soon  to  disappear  as  did  all  the  other  furrows  of  the 
■deep.  This  international  chariot  moves  along  the  streets  of  sapphire,  but  leaves  no  rut,  and 
"the  horses  of  steam-power  trample  the  royal  pavement,  leaving  no  sign  of  hoof  during  tlie  long 
voyage  of  two  weeks.  We  put  out  under  the  direction  of  a  little  finger  in  a  compass  box, 
and  for  fourteen  days  and  nights  the  Titan  engine,  and  the  revolving  screw,  and  the  lives 
on  board  of  a  ship  of  nearly  5000  tons,  obey  the  movement  of  that  little  finger.  Straight 
as  an  arrow  from  shore  to  shore.  We  had  on  board  a  good  bishop  of  the  Church  of  England 
on  the  w-ay  to  his  new  bishopric ;  a  distinguished  general  of  the  English  army  who  is 
returning  from  a  furlough  ;  merchants  who,  having  made  all  the  money  they  can  make  in 
Australia,  or  lost  until  they  have  no  more  to  lose,  are  going  home,  that  home  in  Europe  or 
America.  The  captain,  the  ofiicers,  the  crew,  did  their  best  to  make  everything  agreeable. 
This  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Navigation  Company  leave  nothing  undone  for  the  safetv  and 
comfort  of  the  passengers.  Musical  instruments  ;  electric  lights ;  healthful  bill  of  fare  ; 
competent  libraries  ;  cleanliness  ;  prompt  service,  abolished  as  far  as  possible  the  tedium  of 
the  sea  voyage.  The  fire-bell  has  rung  twice  during  the  voyage,  and  there  has  been  a  rush  of 
the  crew,  some  with  the  fire  hose,  and  some  with  pails  of  water,  and  others  with  boxes 
containing  food  for  the  life-boats.  But  it  was  only  an  appointed  drill  of  the  service,  and 
there  was  no  fire  at  all.  This  alarm,  though  a  little  startling  at  the  time,  gave  new  assurance 
of  the  safety  of  the  passengers  when  we  found  that  ever\-  emergency  was  provided  for. 

But  what  a  long  voyage  it  was  !  No  one  who  has  not  undertaken  a  journey  around  the 
world  can  appreciate  how  far  it  is.  The  two  distances  which  most  impress  us  in  this  globe- 
encircling  journey  are  from  San  Francisco  to  Auckland,  and  from  Australia  to  Ceylon.  And 
then  a  feeling  of  home-sickness  comes  on, — that  strange  sensation  that  no  one  can  describe ; 
and  the  farther  from  home,  the  more  intense  and  desolating.  "  I  wonder  what  the}*  are 
doing  now  at  home?"  "  I  wonder  if  any  of  them  are  sick?"  "I  wonder  if  we  will  all 
meet  again  in  the  familiar  place  ?"  "I  wonder  if  they  will  be  on  the  docks  to  greet  us?" 
"  flow  peculiar  that  we  have  not  heard  from  them  !  "  "I  wonder  how  those  letters  happened 
to  get  astray  ?  "  "  How  strange  that  they  do  not  write  !  "  "I  wish  it  were  all  over  !  " 
"With  so  nnich  of  absorbing  interest  yet  to  see,  the  place  that  I  most  want  to  see — home, 
with  the  home  faces  !  " 

But  we  brush  away  all  such  sentiments,  for  we  are  soon  to  enter  the  island  of  Ce\lon. 
With  what  spirit  shall  we  enter  it  ?  Some  step  ashore  as  hunters.  The  boxes  carried 
ashore  by  the  coolies  are  full  of  guns,  traps,  tents,  ropes,  cups  and  platters  for  extemporized 
breakfasts,  weapons  by  which  to  take  elephants,  deer,  bears  and  tigers.  I  can  hear  the  tree 
branches  crackle,  and  the  tramping  of  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  and  the  splash  into  the 
lakes  of  the  roebuck  with  the  hounds  close  after  it.  I  can  see  the  trees  at  the  door  of  the 
mountain  hut  hung  with  the  dressed-meat  quarters.     I  can  see  the  struggle  between  leopard 

(2o6l 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


10-] 


and  sportsman,  now  the  prospect  that  the  sportsman  will  slay  the  leopard,  and  now  the 
probability  that  tlie  leopard  will  slay  the  sportsman.  Nights  with  stars  looking  down  into 
lakes  that  have  never  been  stirred  of  an  oar,  and  jungles  through  which  firearms  have 
never  resoimded.  Sound  asleep  with  panther  hide  for  a  pillow.  Early  morning  with 
richly-scented  balsams,  and  violets,  and  foxgloves,  and  harebells,  and  cinnamon  ga-rdens, 
and  wild  nutmeg ;  and  awakened  by  the  voices  of  chattering  squirrel,  and  the  buzz  of 
enough  insects  to  confound  entomology,  and  a  heaven  full  of  aviaries.  Then  after  a 
morning  repast,  with  appetite  sharpened  by  excursions  of  many  days  through  trackless 
woods,  the  hunter  starts  for  the  kennel  to  find  all  the  hounds  straining  to  get  loose,  spinning 
round  and  round  in  vortex  of  delight.  Down,  Tray  !  Back  with  >ou,  Sweetheart !  Hush, 
Blanchard  I     Now,  all  out !     Burying  their  noses  in  the  moss  of  the  bank  ;   then   the  pack 


WEIGHING  THE   EMPEROR   IN   THE   DEWAN    KHASS,    INDIA. 

Before  the  conquest  of  ludia  by  the  ^Mohammedans,  it  was  the  custom  to  weigh  the  Emperor  annually  in  the  Hall  of  Audience, 
or  throne  room,  in  the  palace  at  Delhi.  His  weight  was  counterbalanced  by  gold,  silver,  precious'  stones  and  perfumed  woods,  which 
were  afterward  distributed  as  charities  among  his  deserving  subjects. 

in  full  cry,  their  clangor  sounding  through  the  dark  aisle  of  the  forest.  Oh,  there  must  be 
health  in  such  sport !  and  I  congratulate  all  who  land  in  Ceylon  as  hunters. 

But  others  will  go  as  naturalists.  The  sun  with  its  intensification  of  heat,  and  the  air 
with  its  superabundance  of  moisture,  producing  in  Ceylon  more  life,  and  on  a  larger  scale, 
than  any  other  region  I  know  of.  Life  e\ery where,  winged  life,  scaly  life,  tusked  life,  finny 
life,  reptilian  life,  insectile  life.  Warmth  is  life,  and  cold  is  death  ;  and  the  colder  it  is  the 
more  death,  and  the  warmer  it  is  the  more  life.  Life  in  herds  ;  life  in  flocks  ;  life  in  shells ; 
life  in  clouds  ;  throbbing,  glittering,  burning,  crouching,  hissing,  singing,  roaring  life.  I 
congratulate  entomologists,  ichthyologists,  ornithologists,  conchologists,  zoologists  landing 
in  Ceylon. 

Others  will  land  in  this  island  as  lovers  of  human  kind,  as  moralists  and  religionists. 


2oS 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


I  gave  niy  pennies  in  bo}hood  toward  the  evangelization  of  Ceylon.  The  fidelity  and  self- 
sacrifice  of  the  men  and  women  who  here  have  told  the  Christly  story  for  the  last  sixty 
years,  is  a  matter  of  thrilling  history  and  of  celebrative  anthem  in  the  high  places 
angelic. 

There  are  two  things  I  want  most  to  see  on  this  island  :  a  heathen  temple  witli  its 
devotees  in  idolatrons  worship,  and  an  audience  of  Cingalese  addressed  by  a  Christian 
missionary.  Tlie  entomologist  may  have  his  capture  of  brilliant  insects  ;  and  the  sportsman 
his  tent  adorned  witli  antler  of  red  deer  and  tooth  of  wild  boar  ;  and  the  painter  his  port- 
folio of  gorge  three  thousand  feet  down,  and  of  days  dying  on  evening  pillows  of  purple 
cloud  etched  with  fire ;  and  the  botanist  his  camp  full  of  orchids,  and  crowfoots,  and 
gentians,  and  valerian,  and  lotus. 


MODERN   CRUCIFIXION   OF  CRI1IIN.\1,S   IN    INDIA. 


I  want  most  to  find  out  the  moral  and  religious  triumphs, — liow  many  wounds  have 
been  healed  ;  how  many  sorrows  comforted  ;  how  many  entombed  nations  resurrected. 
Sir  William  Baker,  the  famous  explorer  and  geographer,  did  well  for  Ce}'lon  after  his  eight 
years'  residence  in  this  island,  and  Professor  Ernst  Heckel,  the  professor  from  Jena,  did  well 
w'hen  he  swept  these  waters,  and  rummaged  these  hills,  and  took  home  for  future  inspection 
the  insects  of  this  tropical  air.  And  forever  honored  be  such  work  :  but  let  all  tliat  is 
sweet  in  rhythm,  and  graphic  on  canvas,  and  imposing  in  monument,  and  immortal  in 
memory  be  brought  to  tell  the  deeds  of  those  who  were  heroes  and  heroines  for  Clirist's  sake. 

But  we  must  not  anticipate.  Here  we  are  !  Land,  ho  !  What  is  it?  Ceylon.  Along 
a  low  rifge  of  shore  it  rises  out  of  the  sea,  with  here  and  there  a  light-house  growing  dim 


COLOSSAL   IDOL   f'l*    ]:ri>PIIA.    Ki:AR   KAMAKLTtA,    JAPAX. 

The  largest  bronze  idol  in  the  world  is  the  one  shown  in  the  photo^jraph,  which  represents  Buddha,  a  gigantic  image  twenty 
miles  from  Yokohama,  in  Japan.  The  figure  itself,  though  in  a  sitting  posture,  is  44  feet  high,  and  including  the  terrace  is  65  feet 
iiigh.  It  is  made  of  bronze  plates  nicely  joined  together,  and  the  head  is  covered  with  an  imitation  of  snail  shells  to  protect  it  froiu 
the  sun.  This  monstrous  idol  was  set  up  about  600  years  ago,  but  though  exposed  to  the  weather  for  so  luany  centuries  it  still  stands 
unharmed  by  time. 

14  (209) 


2IO  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

under  the  rising  "low  of  the  greater  liglit-honse  of  the  skj-.  At  ever^-  stir  of  the  screw  the 
shores  become  more  prominent,  springing  into  hills,  rolling  into  more  height,  and  into 
mountains  breaking  off  into  precipices.  Hovering  over  the  island  are  clouds  thick  and 
black  as  the  superstitions  which  have  hovered  here  for  centuries  ;  but  the  morning  sun 
breaking  through  like  the  Gospel  light  which  is  to  scatter  the  last  cloud  of  moral  gloom. 
The  sea  lay  along  the  coast  calm  as  the  eternal  pur]ioses  of  God  toward  all  islands  and  con- 
tinents. We  swing  into  the  harbor  of  Colombo,  which  is  made  by  a  break-water  built  at 
vast  expense.  As  we  floated  into  it  the  water  is  black  with  boats  of  all  sizes,  and  manned  by 
people  of  all  colors,  but  chiefly  Tamils  and  Cingalese.  There  were  at  least  ten  boats  for 
each  passenger  that  wanted  to  go  ashore.  It  did  not  take  long  for  us  to  get  aboard  a  craft 
with  five  men  to  row  and  one  to  manage  the  rudder,  and  all  determined  to  persuade  us  that 
we  had  chosen  the  right  boat,  and  that  if  we  wanted  any  other  service  during  the  day  they 
were  the  only  persons  to  whom  we  could  safely  entrust  ourselves. 

The  firsL  thing  was  a  place  to  find  clothing  appropriate  to  the  climate.  We  had  come 
from  the  winter  of  Australia,  and  here  we  were  in  the  land  of  perpetual  summer.  We 
doffed  the  black  and  put  on  the  white,  and  submerged  ourselves  under  a  hat  higher  and 
broader  than  we  had  ever  seen,  one  of  those  edifices  built  in  defiance  of  the  tropical  sun. 
Yet,  after  the  heat  of  the  day  had  passed,  we  started  out  in  as  new  a  world  as  would  be  to  us 
Saturn,  or  Mars,  or  Jupiter,  or  Mercury. 

Among  the  first  places  visited  was  a  Buddhist  college,  about  one  hundred  men  studying 
to  become  priests  gathered  around  the  teachers.  Stepping  into  the  building  where  the  high- 
priest  was  instructing  the  class,  we  took  on  an  apologetic  air  and  told  him  we  were  Ameri- 
cans, and  would  like  to  see  his  mode  of  teaching  if  he  had  no  objections  ;  whereupon  he 
began,  doubled  up  as  he  was  on  a  lounge  with  his  right  hand  playing  with  his  toes.  In  his 
left  hand  he  held  a  package  of  bamboo  lea\-es  on  which  were  written  the  words  of  the 
lesson,  each  student  holding  a  similar  package  of  bamboo  leaves.  The  high-priest  first  read 
and  then  one  of  his  students  read.  A  group  of  as  finely-formed  young  men  as  I  ever  saw 
surrounded  the  venerable  instructor.  The  last  word  of  each  sentence  was  intoned.  There 
was  in  the  whole  scene  an  earnestness  which  impressed  me.  Not  able  to  understand  a  word 
of  what  was  said,  there  is  a  look  of  language  and  intonation  that  is  the  same  among  all 
races.  That  the  Buddhists  have  full  faith  in  their  religion  no  one  can  doubt.  That  is,  in 
their  opinion,  the  wav  to  heaven.  What  Mohammed  is  to  the  Mohannnedan,  and  what 
Christ  is  to  the  Christian,  Buddlia  is  to  the  Buddhist. 

We  waited  for  a  pause  in  the  recitation,  and  then,  expressing  our  thanks,  retired. 

Near  by  is  a  Buddhist  temple,  on  the  altar  of  which,  before  the  image  of  Buddha,  are 
offerings  of  flowers.  As  night  was  coming  on  we  came  up  to  a  Hindoo  temple.  First  we 
were  prohibited  going  farther  than  the  outside  steps,  but  we  gradually  advanced  until  we 
could  see  all  that  was  going  on  inside.  The  worshipers  were  making  obeisance.  The 
tom-toms  were  wildly  beaten,  and  shrill  pipes  were  blown,  and  several  other  instruments 
were  in  full  bang  and  blare,  and  there  was  an  indescribable  hubbub,  and  the  most  laborious 
style  of  worship  I  had  ever  seen  or  heard.  The  dim  lights,  and  the  jargon,  and  the 
gloom,  and  the  flitting  figures  mingled  for  eye  and  ear  a  horror  which  it  is  difficult  to 
shake  off". 

All  this  was  onlv  suggestive  of  what  would  there  transpire  after  the  toilers  of  the  day  had 
ceased  work  and  had  time  to  appear  at  the  temple.  That  such  things  should  be  supposed 
to  please  the  Lord,  or  have  any  power  to  console  or  help  the  worshipers,  is  only  another 
mystery  in  this  world  of  mysteries.      But  we  came  away  saddened  with   the  spectacle,  a 


THE  WORLD   AS   SEEN  TO-DAY.  211 

sadness  which  did  not  leave  ns  until  we  arrived  at  a  place  where  a  Christian  missionary  was 
preaching  in  the  street  to  a  group  of  natives. 

I  had  that  morning  expressed  a  wish  to  witness  such  a  scene,  and  here  it  was.  Stand- 
ing on  an  elevation  the  good  man  was  addressing  the  crowd.  All  was  attention,  and  silence, 
and  reverence.  A  religion  of  relief  and  joy  was  being  commended,  and  the  dusky  faces 
were  illumined  with  the  sentiments  of  pacification  and  reinforcement.  It  was  the  rose  of 
Sharon  after  walking  among  nettles.  It  was  the  morning  light  after  a  thick  darkness.  It 
was  the  Gospel  after  Hinduism. 

Asked  to  speak,  my  address  was  rendered  into  two  languages  by  interpreters,  first  into 
Cingalese  and  then  into  Tamil.  Sentence  by  sentence,  each  sentence  three  times  uttered. 
Strange,  weird  and  solemn  occasion. 

Going  back  to  our  hotel,  we  waited  there  until  nearly  eight  o'clock,  when  we  were 
taken  to  the  preaching  ser\'ices  to  the  old  historical  church,  once  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  when  the  Hollanders  held  Ceylon,  but  now  a  Presbyterian  Church,  presided  over  by 
a  minister  from  Scotland.  The  church  was  built  in  the  year  1749,  and  is  now,  as  then,  a 
graceful  and  majestic  structure  ;  an  imposing  cruciform  ;  on  its  walls  entablatures  to  the 
Dutch  Governors  who  used  there  to  worship,  and  until  the  time  when  the  English  took 
possession.  The  Dutch  Governors  are  buried  beneath  the  floor  of  this  church.  To  my 
surprise,  the  great  church  was  thronged,  although  our  steamer  did  not  arrive  until  ten 
o'clock  that  morning  and  the  service  was  not  announced  until  after  twelve.  How  startled 
I  was  on  opening  the  Psalm  Book  that  night  at  the  beginning  of  the  service  to  find  the 
words,  "  Reformed  Dutch  Church ; "  for  that  was  the  name  of  the  church  in  which  I  was 
baptized  and  received  into  membership,  and  ordained  into  the  ministry.  So  they  stand  side 
by  side :  Church  of  Christ,  and  Temple  of  P.uddha.  Pillar  of  light,  and  colossus  of  gloom. 
The  one  proposing  to  cheer  in  this  world  and  then  give  transportation  to  a  world  of  radiant 
explanation,  to  go  no  more  out  forever,  and  the  other  a  transfonnation  from  creature  to 
creature,  and  a  revolving  wheel,  and  a  passing  on  until  personal  existence  is  swallowed  up 
as  a  drop  of  water  is  swallowed  up  of  the  sea — side  by  side  those  religions  stand  in  Ceylon ; 
midnoon  and  midnight ! 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

RELIGIONS    GOOD   AND    BAD. 

OWO  processions  I  saw  in  this  city  within  one  hour,  the  first  led  by  a  Hindu  priest, 
a  liuge  pot  of  flowers  on  his  head,  his  face  disfigured  with  holy  lacerations,  and 
his  unwashed  followers  beating  as  many  discords  from  what  are  supposed  to  be 
musical  instruments  as  at  one  time  can  be  induced  to  enter  the  human  ear. 
Tlie  procession  halted  at  the  door  of  the  huts.  The  occupants  came  out  and  made  obeisance 
and  presented  small  contributions.  In  return  therefor,  the  priest  sprinkled  ashes  upon  the 
children  who  came  forward  ;  this  evidently  a  form  of  benediction.  Then  the  procession, 
led  on  by  the  priest,  started  again  ;  more  noise,  more  ashes,  more  genuflexion.  However 
keen  one's  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  he  could  find  nothing  to  excite  even  a  smile  in  tlie  move- 
ments of  such  a  procession.     Meaningless,  oppressive,  squalid,  filthy,  sad. 

Returning  to  our  carriage,  we  rode  on  for  a  few  moments,  and  we  came  on  another  pro- 
cession— a  kindly  lady  leading  groups  of  native  children,  all  clean,  bright,  happy,  laughing. 
They  were  a  Christian  school  out  for  exercise.  There  seemed  as  much  intelligence,  refine- 
ment and  happiness  in  that  regiment  of  young  Cingalese  as  you  would  find  in  the  ranks  of 
anv  young  ladies'  seminary  being  chaperoned  on  their  afternoon  walk  through  Central  Park, 
New  York,  or  Hyde  Park,  London.  The  Hindu  procession  illustrated  on  a  small  scale 
something  of  what  Hinduism  can  do  for  the  world.  The  Christian  procession  illustrated 
on  a  small  scale  something  of  what  Christianity  can  do  for  the  world.  But  those  two 
processions  were  only  fragments  of  the  two  greater  processions  ever  marching  across  our 
world.  The  procession  blasted  of  superstition  and  the  procession  blessed  of  Gospel  light. 
I  saw  them  to-day  in  Ceylon.  They  are  to  be  seen  in  all  nations.  Nothing  is  of  more 
thrilliug  interest  than  the  Christian  achievements  in  this  island.  The  Episcopal  Churcli 
was  here  the  national  church,  but  disestablishment  has  taken  place,  and  since  ]\Ir.  Glad- 
stone's accomplishment  of  that  fact  in  1880,  all  denominations  are  on  equal  platform,  and 
all  are  doing  mighty  work.  America  is  second  to  no  other  nation  in  what  has  been  done 
for  Cevlon.  vSince  1816  she  has  had  her  religious  agents  in  the  Jaffna  Peninsula  of  Ceylon. 
The  Spauldings,  the  Howlands,  the  Doctors  Poor,  the  Saunders  and  others  just  as  good  and 
strong  have  been  fighting  back  monsters  of  superstition  and  cruelt}-  greater  than  any  mon- 
sters that  ever  swung  the  tusk  or  roared  in  the  jungles. 

An  assistant  master  in  the  Royal  College  has  taken  the  trouble  to  write  out  for  me 
authenticated  statistics  which  are  not  dull  figures,  but  resounding  anthems.  The  American 
missionaries  have  given  especial  attention  to  medical  institutions,  and  are  doing  wonders  in 
the  driving  back  of  the  horrors  of  heathen  surger>\  Cases  of  suffering  were  fonnerly  given 
over  to  the  devil-worshipers  and  such  tortures  inflicted  as  may  not  be  described.  In  cases 
of  accouchement,  for  three  days  the  poor  woman  was  kept  suspended  by  ropes  reaching  to 
the  roof,  so  that  gravitation  might  do  the  work  of  relief.  This  failing,  the  patient  was 
trampled  by  the  feet  of  the  attendants.  The  crisis  past,  tlie  patient  was  laid  on  the  floor 
and  pails  of  cold  water  were  dashed  upon  the  sufferer,  and  it  is  only  of  God's  mercy  that 
there  is  a  living  mother  in  Ceylon.     Oh,  how  much  Ceylon  wants  doctors  and  the  native 

(212) 


This  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  India,  a  shTft  of  mixed  metal  resembling  bronze,  sixteen  inches  in  diameter  and  rising  to  a  height 
of  JO  feet  above  ground.  Archxolo.^ists  have  tried  to  find  its  base,  but  though  they  excavated  to  a  depth  of  2>'  feet  the  foundation  was 
not  reached.  It  is  known  to  have  stood  in  silent  mystery  for  more  than  1500  years,  and  yet  the  iuscriptions  and  metal  are  as  bright  as 
though  new.  The  Hindoos  say  it  was  the  club  that  Bheema  wielded,  and  the  Buddhists  declare  that  it  pierces  the  entire  depth  of  the 
earth  and  rests  upon  the  head  ol  Vasuki.  the  gigantic  snake  that  supports  the  world.  It  is  regarded  as  the  j  alladium  of  Hindoo 
dominion. 

(213) 


214  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

classes  of  medical  students  such  as  were  established  here  by  Samuel  Fish  Green,  providing 
the  alleviations,  and  kindly  ministries,  and  scientific  acumen  that  can  be  found  in  American 
and  Englisli  hospitals. 

In  Cej-lon  132  American  schools;  213  Churcli  of  England  schools;  234  Wesleyan 
schools  ;  234  Roman  Catholic  schools.  Ah  !  the  schools  decide  most  everything.  Churches 
here,  and  almost  everywhere,  are  making  prolonged  effort  to  do  in  ten,  or  twenty,  or  foity 
years  that  which  the  school  might  have  done  in  a  week,  if  it  had  begun  in  time.  How 
suggestive  the  incident  that  came  to  me  this  morning.  In  a  school  under  the  care  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  two  boys  were  converted  to  Ciirist,  and  were  to  be  baptized.  An  intelli- 
gent Buddhist  boy  said  in  the  school  that  all  the  boys  on  Buddha's  side  were  to  come  to 
this  side  of  the  room,  and  all  the  boys  on  Christ's  side  to  go  to  the  other  side  of  the  room. 
All  the  boys  except  two  went  on  Buddha's  side,  and  when  the  two  boys  who  were  to  be 
baptized,  were  scoffed  at  and  derided,  one  of  them  yielded  and  returned  to  Buddha's  side. 
But  after  a  while  that  boy  was  sorry  that  he  had  yielded  to  the  persecution  and  when  the 
day  of  baptism  came,  stood  up  beside  the  boy  who  remained  firm.  Some  one  said  to  the 
boy  who  had  vacillated  in  his  choice  between  Christ  and  Buddha  :  "  You  are  a  coward  and 
not  fit  for  either  side."  But  he  replied,  "  I  was  overcome  of  temptation,  but  I  repent  and 
believe."  Then  both  boys  were  baptized,  and  from  that  time  the  Anglican  mission  moved 
on  more  and  more  vigorously.  We  express  no  preference  for  the  work  of  any  of  the  great 
denominations.  They  have  all  done  a  work  that  will  last  forever.  The  Wesleyans  have 
been  gloriously  busy  in  all  parts  of  Ceylon,  building  altars  and  saving  the  people.  The 
native  churches,  self-supporting  now,  stand  where  stood  the  missions  once  entirely  depen- 
dent upon  England.  The  Episcopal  Church  has  had  here  some  of  its  most  talented  and 
consecrated  bishops,  and  her  sublime  liturgies  sound  now  in  places  where  nothing  more 
elevating  was  heard  than  the  groan  of  besotted  idolatries.  Here  Reverend  William  Oakley 
toiled  in  Ceylon  INIission  fifty-three  years  without  once  going  home  to  his  native  England. 
The  Baptist  Church  has  preceded  all  other  Protestant  missions  in  this  island,  and  dipped 
her  candidates  into  these  lakes  and  rivers  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

According  to  the  document  put  in  my  hand  in  this  city,  there  are  now  in  Ceylon : 

Christians 267.977 

Buddhists       1,698,070 

Hindus       593.63° 

Mohammedans 197.775 

Others 2,286 

Making 2,759  738 

These  figures  suggest  the  magnitude  of  the  work  accomplished,  and  the  greater 
magnitude  of  the  work  yet  to  be  done.  More  than  anything  else  it  impresses  me  with  the 
fact  that  if  the  Christian  religion  is  not  a  supernatural  religion  it  will  never  conquer  this 
world.  The  Buddhists  are  in  vast  majority.  The  Hindus  in  vast  majority.  They  were 
intrenched  long  ages  before  Christ  was  born.  They  have  the  advantage  of  being  advocated 
bv  some  of  the  most  brilliant  and  learned  men  of  all  time.  Take  up  a  book  of  their 
proverbs,  and  see  that  we  have  to  contend  not  against  imbeciles,  but  against  principalities 
and  powers.  Read  also  some  of  the  sentiments  of  their  religion,  and  find  that  they  equal 
Christianity  in  excellence.  Buddhism  has  received  reinforcement  in  recent  times  from 
Theosophv,  the  religion  of  moonshine,  tlie  religion  of  cranks,  a  religion  advocated  by  those 
who  can  find  but  little  to   admire  in   the  religion   of    Christ  which   purifies  the  life,  and 


f2I5) 


2i6  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

establishes  home,  and  advances  civilization,  and  the  wiseacres  have  plunged  through  the 
jnngles  of  two  tlionsand  years  to  find  their  favorite  god  amid  the  buried  cities  of  Ceylon. 
Some  representatives  of  the  British  Government  have  also  helped  a  revival  of  Buddhism. 
The  priests  of  that  religion  are  more  honored  here  in  Ceylon  on  grand  religions  occasions 
than  the  representatives  of  an\-  other  religion.  And,  more  than  all,  the  birthday  of 
Buddha  is  now  made  a  public  holiday,  as  much  as  Christmas  celebrates  the  birth  of  our 
Saviour,  and  this  luider  the  flag  of  the  best  Christian  Queen  among  the  nations.  Ye 
.spirits  of  the  uien  and  women  who,  born  mider  the  shadow  of  the  kirk  of  Scotland,  or 
within  sound  of  the  English  cathedral  rolling  its  doxology  heavenward,  or  who,  baptized 
in  the  waters  of  the  Hudson,  or  Ohio,  or  the  Savannah,  came  here  to  toil,  and  suffer,  and 
die  for  Christ's  sake,  tell  us  from  your  thrones,  what  think  you  of  this  ?  At  near  the 
close  of  the  nineteen  centuries  which  have  passed  since  the  meteoric  finger  pointed  to 
the  straw  pillow  in  Bethlehem,  we  have  to  confront  the  fact  that  while  there  are  in  the 
island  of  Ce)-lon  267,000  Christians,  there  are  2,489,000  Buddhists,  Hindus  and  Moham- 
medans. Nothing  but  the  supernatural  in  the  Christian  religion  can  ever  overcome  that 
fearful  odds.  Behold,  then,  the  responsibility  of  those  critics  of  our  time  who  would 
eliminate  the  supernatural  and  make  the  Christian  religion  a  human  affair,  to  be  advanced 
only  by  human  thought,  and  dependent  upon  human  machinery  !  We  are,  in  the  attempt 
to  evangelize  Ceylon,  engaged  in  attempting  an  impossibility,  unless  we  have  the  help  of 
the  One  who  can  divide  the  sea,  and  make  the  sun  and  moon  stand  still,  and  cause  a 
shadow  to  go  back  on  the  dial,  and  set  up  a  pillar  of  fire  over  the  wilderness.  But  the 
victory  is  coming.  The  most  of  our  artillery  is  in  the  heavens,  and  in  due  time  it  will 
be  unlimbered.  We  must  do  our  part  and  God  will  do  His  part.  I  believe  the  Mosaic 
account  of  the  creation,  and  the  geological  account.  It  took  millions  of  }ears  to  get  out 
the  timber  for  building  this  world,  and  hauling  it  to  the  right  spot,  but  it  took  only  six 
days  to  put  on  it  the  finishing  touch  to  make  it  the  fit  residence  for  the  bride  and  groom 
of  Paradise.  So  the  material  for  the  reconstruction  of  our  destroyed  world  may  be  a 
long  while  in  gathering,  and  centuries  of  Christian  and  missionary  effort  may  be  requisite, 
but  when  the  right  time  comes,  it  will  require  only  a  few  years,  and  perhaps  only  a  few 
days,  to  make  it  a  fit  residence  for  our  Lord  when  He  comes  to  take  by  the  hand  the 
Church  which  is  the  Lamb's  wife.  In  the  meanwhile,  what  an  amazement  the  Christian 
world  must  be  to  Buddhists  and  Hindus.  One  of  them  said  to  the  captain  of  our  ship : 
"  India  is  a  great  big  country,  and  500,000,000  inhabitants,  but  we  have  only  two  religions. 
England  is  an  island  with  less  than  100,000,000,  and  you  have  so  many  religions  I  cannot 
count  them."  No  doubt  that  Buddhist  merely  stated  a  mystery  that  must  fill  the  minds 
•of  manv  of  the  natives  of  Ceylon  and  India.  Presbyterians  come  here  to  Colombo  and  tell 
the  natives  that  as  soon  as  they  are  converted  they  must  be  baptized  by  sprinkling.  The 
Baptists  tell  them  that  as  soon  as  they  are  converted  they  ought  to  be  immersed.  The 
Weslevans  tell  them  that  in  the  churches  they  may  approach  God  in  any  reverential  and 
spontaneous,  and  unpremeditated  way  they  choose.  The  Anglicans  tell  them  they  onght 
to  confine  themselves  in  public  worship  to  the  prayer-book  and  such  forms  as  the  Church 
of  England  decrees.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  comes  in  with  its  imposing  rituals  and 
proclaims  the  head  of  the  Cluirch  is  at  Rome,  and  you  must  cross  yourself  with  holy  water, 
and  let  her  lead  yonr  worship  in  Latin.  From  so  much  original  and  diverse  advice  I  have 
no  doubt  many  of  them  fall  back  upon  the  old  religion  and  say:  "Buddha's  religion  we 
understand,  and  it  tells  us  just  how  to  do,  and  it  tells  just  the  same  thing,  and  to  Buddha 
iiereafter  we  will  repair." 


FAMINB  SCENES  IX  AS   EAST  INDIAN   CITY. 


(217) 


2lS 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


There  are  only  two  things  certain  :  the  one  is  that  the  patient  is  ver}-  sick,  and  the 
other  is  tliat  there  are  ten  or  eleven  doctors  in  the  room,  each  one  with  a  diiTerent  prescrip- 
tion. Who  knows  bnt  that  nnder  some  especial  baptism  of  power  from  on  Iiigh,  which  shall 
reach  all  beliefs  and  all  organizations,  there  may  be  fonnd  for  missionary  purposes  a  com- 
bination of  all  the  present  hundred  sects,  and  taking  the  hint  of  apostolic  times,  each 
church  shall  take  the  name  of  the  locality  where  it  works,  and  as  in  Pauline,  Peterine  and 
Johannian  times  it  was  "Church  of  Smyrna,"  or  "Church  of  Thyatira,"  or  "Church  of 
Ephesus,"  or  "  Church  of  Philadelphia,"  it  shall  be  the  Church  of  Ceylon,  the  Church  of 
India,  the  Church  of  China,  the  Church  of  Sumatra,  the  Church  of  Borneo?  That  church 
shall  be  in  its  worship  both  liturgical  and  spontaneous ;  part  of  the  service  read  so  as  best 


A    MAllv    HOKbt.    Ul-    l.NDl.i. 


to  express  the  feelings  of  those  who  prefer  that  mode,  and  part  extemporaneous  to  express 
the  feelings  arou.sed  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  that  day,  and  there  .shall  be  on  one 
side  of  the  pulpit  a  font,  and  on  the  other  a  baptistery  ;  a  stone  cup  for  those  who  would 
consecrate  themselves  to  God  under  the  falling  of  the  morning  dew,  and  a  brazen  sea  for 
those  who  wish  in  most  emphatic  mode  to  have  signalized  that  all  their  sins  are  washed 
away.  In  those  days  there  will  be  such  a  complete  submergence  from  generous,  and  holy, 
and  self-sacrificing  influence,  that  the  mere  teclinicalities  of  religion  will  dwindle  into  the 
infinitesimal,  until  it  will  take  the  most  powerful  microscope  of  the  double-dyed  bigot  to 
see  them  at  all.  And  Zoroaster,  and  P.uddha,  and  Mahomet  will  be  honored  for  the  good 
they  accomplished,  and  pitied  for  the  evil  they  inaugurated.     But  Christ  shall  be  all  in  all. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  219 

Events  and  dates  that  are  now  perhaps  uncelebrated  and  perhaps  not  noticed  at  all,  will 
loom  up  into  their  deserved  importance;  such  as,  1749,  A.  D.,  the  Wolvendal  Presbyterian 
Church  erected  here  at  Colombo,  and  the  New  Testament  translated  into  Tamil;  1796,  the 
Pentateuch  translated  into  Tamil;  1812,  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  instituted,  a  Baptist 
Mission  commenced  in  Ceylon  ;  1814,  Wesleyan  Mission  commenced  ;  1815,  first  Sunday- 
school  opened  by  the  Weselyan  missionaries ;  1816,  American  Mission  commenced  in 
Ceylon;  1818,  Episcopal  missionaries  arrived;  1833,  Cotta  translation  of  the  Bible  in 
Cingalese;  1845,  Ceylon  constituted  an  Episcopal  See;  1869,  the  Presbyter}'  of  Ceylon 
established  b\'  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;  1874,  a  religious  conference  of 
Protestants  held  in  Colombo,  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Ceylon  Christian 
Alliance  and  the  formation  of  the  Sunday-School  Union. 

Surel)-  such  events  are  worthy  of  commemoration,  and  the  time  will  come  when  they 
will  make  more  impression  on  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  world  than  the  number  of  pounds 
of  tea  and  chips  of  cinnamon  shipped  from  Ceylon  annually.  But  there  is  at  present  a 
great  set-back  to  the  Christianization  and  moralization  of  Ceylon,  and  that  is  in  the  liquor 
traffic.  Buddhists,  according  to  their  religion,  must  not  take  strong  drink,  but  multitudes 
of  th.2m  do  take  it,  and  the  presence  of  so  many  foreigners  who  are  perpetually  under 
sdmnlants  is  so  debasing  that  it  is  luicertain  whether  foreign  nations  are  doing  most  for 
civilization  or  the  destruction  of  Ceylon.  One  million  three  hundred  thousand  rupees  are 
spent  annually  by  Government  and  by  foreign  and  local  organizations  for  educational  and 
classical  purposes  in  Ceylon;  1,300,000  rupees  are  spent  annualh-  in  Ce\-lon  for  strong 
drink ;  1,300,000  rupees  for  gospelization  ;  1,300,000  rupees  for  individual,  social  and 
H£,tioi!.al  degradation. 

£t;:  our  hope  is  in  the  God  who  made  the  Cingalese  as  well  as  the  American,  and  He 
car.  as  easily  manage  them  in  the  mass  as  He  can  individually  ;  and  if  God  can  lift  the 
tides  at  Liverpool  Docks  twenty  feet  with  the  slender  silver  thread  of  the  moonbeam, 
surely  He  can  lift  all  nations  by  the  omnipotence  of  His  love !  The  long,  bright,  dazzling 
flash  of  the  lightning  on  the  summer  sky  may  be  only  the  pulling  of  the  sword  a  little 
from  His  scabbard  as  if  in  preparation  for  the  time  when  He  will  entirely  unsheathe  it  and 
stri^ie  for  the  setting  of  all  nations  free.  And  the  thunder  that  rolls  from  these  July 
heavens  may  be  the  rumble  of  the  chariot  of  the  Almighty  as  His  harnessed  purposes  are 
being  fastened  to  it  for  His  descent  along  the  sapphire  steeps  when  He  shall  come  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CINGALESE. 

ONOTONOUS  is  an  adjective  of  no  nse  in  this  island.  The  scene  chanp;es  every 
niinnte.  Tlie  busiest  hour  on  Broadway,  New  York,  or  the  Strand  of  London, 
is  not  more  lively  and  spirited  than  the  chief  streets  here.  First  of  all,  the  most 
s-^ — ^  ^-A  interesting  study  is  that  of  the  people  themselves.  Brown  as  the  coffee  they  raise 
are  the  Cingalese.  Tlie  man's  hair  is  worn  long  and  coiled  on  the  top  of  his  head.  Conspicu- 
ously on  the  sides  and  the  back  of  his  head  is  a  comb.  It  is  made  of  the  shell  of  the  tortoise. 
The  tortoise  is  hung  over  a  fire  until  his  shell  falls  off.  Obtained  in  this  cruel  way  the  shells 
are  said  to  be  of  superior  quality.  The  man  must  wear  this  comb,  though  for  reasons  it  may  be 
covered  up.  I  said  to  my  barber  on  shipboard:  "Are  yon  a  Cingalese?"  He  replied : 
"Yes."  Then  I  said  to  him  :  "Where  is  }ourcomb?"  He  said  :  "  It  is  covered."  The 
woman  fastens  her  hair  with  pins.  To  an  American  the  men  and  women  of  Ceylon  look 
very  much  alike.  Embarrassing  mistakes  are  sometimes  made  by  an  Englishman  or 
American,  supposing  he  is  waited  vipon  by  a  man-servant  when  the  attendant  is  a  maid- 
servant ;  or  by  a  lady  of  other  lands  supposing  she  is  waited  on  by  a  maid-servant  when 
the  attendant  is  a  man-servant.  The  faces  of  the  masculine  Cingalese  are  for  the  most 
part  not  only  effeminate,  but  delicately  beautiful.  The  smile  has  its  home  on  almost  every 
face.  Thev  are  a  cheery  race,  and  do  more  of  the  business  of  happiness  on  a  small 
capital  than  any  other  people  I  ever  saw.  The  streets  are  thronged  with  these  frisking, 
skipping,  ruiniing,  gleeful  folk.  I\Iany  of  them  have  lips  blood-red  Avith  betel-nut  which 
they  chew  incessantly  and  without  an}-  reference  to  the  cleanly  or  picturesque.  Into  the 
betel  leaf  is  wrapped  frequently  the  areca  nut  and  a  sprinkle  of  lime,  and  then  it  is 
vigorously  chewed.  The  compound  thus  chewed  is  said  to  be  good  for  the  teeth.  I  am 
glad  it  is  good  for  something.  Universal  expectoration.  They  all  have  something  to  sell  ; 
or  they  will  sing  for  you  a  song ;  or  the}'  will  perfonn  a  dance  ;  or  they  will  astound  you 
with  some  sleight-of-hand;  or  they  will  open  your  carriage-door;  or  they  will  help  you 
out,  or  help  vou  in  ;  all  of  them  voluble  with  the  superiority  of  their  own  services  lo  that 
of  any  other  service. 

But  all  up  and  down  the  streets  you  find  the  Tamils,  whose  ancestors  came  over  from 
India.  Their  heads  are  shaven  and  always  covered  with  a  turban  in  the  presence  of  their 
superior.  The  Tamils  are  a  swarthier  race  than  the  Cingalese.  They  look  as  if  they  could 
do  more  work  and  that  is  their  reported  characteristic. 

But  passing  up  and  down  the  streets  of  Ceylon  }-ou  find  all  styles  of  people  within  five 
minutes  :  Afghans,  Kaffirs,  Portuguese,  Moormen,  Dutch,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  American  ; 
all  classes,  all  dialects,  all  manners  and  customs,  all  styles  of  salaam.  The  most  interesting 
thing  on  earth  is  the  human  race,  and  specimens  of  all  branches  of  it  confront  you  in 
Ceylon.  The  island  of  the  present  is  a  quiet  and  inconspicuous  affair  compared  with  what 
it  once  was.  The  dead  cities  of  Ceylon  were  larger  and  more  imposing  than  are  the  living 
cities.  On  this  island  are  dead  New  Yorks,  and  dead  Pekins,  and  dead  Edinburghs,  and 
dead  Londons.  Ever  and  anon  at  the  stroke  of  the  archaeologist's  hammer  the  tomb  of 
some  great  numicipality  flies  open,  and  there  are  other  buried  cities  that  will  yet  respond  to 

(220) 


BRAHMIN    WEDDING. 


(221) 


222  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

the  explorer's  pick-axe.  Tl:e  Pompeii  and  Herculaneuin  underneath  Italy  are  small  com- 
pared with  the  Pompeiis  and  Herculaneums  underneath  Ceylon.  Yonder  is  an  exhumed 
city  which  was  founded  five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  standing  in  Pompeiian  splendor 
for  twelve  hundred  \ears.  Stairways  up  which  fifty  men  might  pass  side  by  side.  Cai-ved 
pillars,  some  of  them  fallen,  some  of  them  a-slant,  some  of  them  erect.  Phidiases  and 
Christopher  Wrens  never  heard  of,  here  performed  the  marvels  of  sculpture  and  architecture. 
Aisles  through  which  royal  processions  marched.  Arches  under  which  kings  were  carried. 
Citv  with  reservoir  twenty  miles  in  circumference.  Extemporized  lakes  that  did  their 
cooling  and  refreshing  for  twelve  centuries.  Ruins  more  suggestive  than  Melrose  and 
Kenilworth.  Ceylonian  Karnaks  and  Luxors.  Ruins  retaining  much  of  grandeur,  though 
wars  bombarded  them  and  Time  put  his  chisel  on  every  block,  and,  more  than  all,  vegeta- 
tion thrust  its  fingers,  and  pries,  and  wrenches  into  all  the  crevices.  Dagobas,  or  places 
where  relics  of  saints  or  deities  are  kept.  Dagobas  four  hundred  feet  high,  and  their  fallen 
material  burying  precious  things  for  the  sight  of  which  modern  curiosity  has  digged  and 
blasted  in  vain.  Procession  of  elephants  in  imitation,  wrought  into  lustrous  marble. 
Troops  of  horses  in  full  run.  Shrines,  chapels,  cathedrals  wrecked  on  the  mountain-side. 
Stairs  of  moonstone.  Exquisite  scrolls  rolling  up  more  mysteries  than  will  ever  be 
unrolled.  Over  sixteen  square  miles,  the  ruins  of  one  city  strewn.  Throne  rooms  on 
which  sat  165  kings,  reigning  in  authority  they  inherited.  Walls  that  witnessed  coronations, 
assassinations,  subjugations,  triumphs.  Altars  at  which  millions  bowed  ages  before  the 
orchestras  celestial  woke  the  shepherds  with  midnight  overture. 

When  Lieutenant  Skinner,  in  1S32,  discovered  the  site  of  some  of  these  cities,  he 
found  congregated  in  them  undisturbed  assemblages  of  leopards,  porcupines,  flamingoes  and 
pelicans  ;  reptiles  sunning  themselves  on  the  altars  ;  prima  donnas  rendering  ornithological 
chant  from  deserted  music  halls.  One  king  restored  much  of  the  grandeur ;  rebuilt  1500 
residences ;  but  ruin  soon  resumed  its  sceptre.  Now  all  is  down  ;  the  spires  down  ;  the 
pillars  down ;  the  tablets  down ;  the  glory  of  splendid  arches  down.  What  killed  those 
cities?  Who  slew  the  New  York  and  London  of  the  year  500  B.  C.  ?  Was  it  unhealthed 
with  a  host  of  plagues?  Was  it  foreign  armies  laying  siege?  Was  it  whole  generations 
weakened  by  their  own  vices  ?  Mystery  sits  amid  the  monoliths  and  brick  dust,  finger 
on  lip  in  eternal  silence  while  the  centuries  guess  and  guess  in  vain.  We  simply  know 
that  genius  planned  those  cities,  and  immense  populations  inhabited  them.  An  eminent 
writer  estimates  that  a  pile  of  bricks  in  one  ruin  would  be  enough  to  build  a  wall  ten  feet 
high  from  Edinburgh  to  London.  Sixteen  hundred  pillars  with  carved  capitals  are  standing 
sentinel  for  ten  miles.  You  can  estimate  somewhat  of  the  size  of  the  cities  by  the  resen.'oirs 
that  were  required  to  slake  their  thirst ;  judging  the  size  of  the  city  from  the  size  of  the  cup 
out  of  which  it  drank.  Cities  crowded  with  inhabitants :  not  like  American  or  English 
cities,  but  packed  together  as  only  barbaric  tribes  can  pack  them.  But  their  knell  was 
sounded  ;  their  light  went  out.  Giant  trees  are  the  only  royal  family  now  occupying  those 
palaces.  The  growl  of  wild  beasts,  where  once  the  guffaw  of  wassail  ascended.  Anurad- 
hapura  Pollonarna  will  never  be  rebuilded.  Let  all  the  living  cities  of  the  earth  take 
warning.  Cities  are  human,  having  a  time  to  be  born  and  a  time  to  die.  No  more 
certainly  have  they  a  cradle  than  a  grave.  A  last  judgment  is  appointed  for  individuals, 
but  cities  have  their  last  judgment  in  this  world.  They  bless  ;  the>-  curse  ;  they  worship  ; 
they  blaspheme  ;  they  suffer ;  they  are  rewarded;    they  are  overthrown. 

Some  of  these  cities  were  associated  chiefly  with  .some  relic  of  Lord  Buddha,  who  the 
most  of  the  Buddhists  say  was  only  a  man,  but  they  all  worship  him  as  a  god.     One  temple 


SERPENT   PAGODA. 


223 


224 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


contains  his  jaw-bone.  Another  was  taken  from  his  thorax.  Another  has  .simply  a  tooth; 
althongli  imitations  of  that  tooth  are  in  several  of  the  temples.  I  infer  from  the  size  of  the 
tooth  Buddha  must  have  been  Cyclopean,  Sam.sonian,  Titanian.  What  he  ever  did  with 
a  tooth  like  that  I  cannot  understand.  How  he  worked  a  whole  mouthful  of  them  is  to  me 
a  mystery.  No  human  being  I  ever  saw  could  afford  to  sport  such  an  ivory.  The  sailors 
talk  a  great  deal  about  the  teeth  of  the  wind,  and  I  can  imagine  from  the  way  that  the 
tempests  sometimes  chew  up  a  city  that  the  teeth  of  the  wind  may  be  monstrous  teeth,  but 
Buddha  was  supposed  to  be  peaceable,  and  what  use  a  peaceable  being  could  make  of  such 
an  instrument  I  cannot  see.  But  there  it  hangs — the  sacred  tooth  of  Buddha.  Thousands 
of  people  come  thousands  of  miles  to  see  it.     If  it  were  a  wisdom  tooth,  he  must  have  been 

very  wise.  If  it 
were  what  is 
called  a  "  sweet 
tooth,"  it  must 
have  taken  an 
enormous  quan- 
tity of  the  sac- 
charine to  satisfy 
him.  I  would 
like  to  see  the  for- 
ceps that  could 
draw  a  tooth  like 
that.  What  capa- 
fe  city  itwould  have 
p  had  to  ache  if  once 
it  had  begun  to 
grumble !  That 
■  tooth  is  at  least 
two  inches  long. 
The  temple  is 
built  at  Kandy 
in  honor  of  this 
tooth,  but  in  a 
temple  at  Co- 
lombo you  see  a 

copy  of  the  tooth.  The  fact  is  that  the  original  sacred  tooth  is  not  now  in  existence,  but 
the  substitute  does  very  well  for  the  original.  One  king  was  said  to  have  offered  in  sacrifice 
one  hundred  million  blos.soms  in  one  day  in  honor  of  this  sacred  tooth.  Most  people 
have  to  be  satisfied  with  looking  at  the  case  that  incloses  it,  but  the  Prince  of  Wales  was 
allowed  to  see  the  thing  itself  A  golden  wire  suspends  a  cr>stal  case  holding  the  tooth. 
Even  the  case  containing  the  tooth  is  not  always  in  sight.  It  is  put  away  with  all  possible 
ceremonv.  Lock  after  lock,  case  within  case  ;  jewels  above  it,  and  beneath  it,  and  all 
around  it.  Emeralds,  garnets,  lotus  leaves  wrought  in  gold,  and  silken  brocades,  and 
barbaric  splendors  amid  which  it  is  wrapt  and  set.  Oh,  what  a  tooth  !  Was  ever  such 
a  fuss  made  over  a  molar,  and  that  not  genuine?  Other  nations  have  sent  embassadors 
to  buy  it.  The  Governor  of  Siam  offered  for  it  $250,000,  but  could  not  get  it.  Not  getting 
it,  that  government  sent  an  embassy  to  have  the  sacred  tooth  dipped  in  oil  and  a  few  drops 


THE  WORSHIPFUI,  TOOTH. 

When  Gautama,  known  as  the  Buddha,  died  at  the  age  of  So  (543  D.  C),  his  body  was  burned  with 
great  ceremony,  and  from  the  ashes  eight  relics  were  obtained,  one  of  which  was  a  tooth.  This  tooth  has 
been  sacredly  preserved  ever  since  in  the  Buddhist  temple,  at  Kandy,  Ceylon,  which  is  exhibited  with 
great  pomp  once  each  year  before  vast  crowds  that  come  to  worship  it. 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


225 


of  the  oil  allowed  them  ;  and  so  it  was  done.  There  are  shrines  in  other  lands  with 
reputed  teeth  of  Buddha ;  indeed,  more  teeth  than  lie  could  have  found  convenient  during 
his  liletime,  for  1  imagine  it  would  be  as  much  a  trouble  to  have  too  many  teeth  as  to 
have  not  enough  teeth.  Yet,  let  us  not  have  our  own  teeth  too  much  set  on  edge  by  the 
story  of  Buddha's  teeth,  for  the  fact  is,  that  every  tooth  is  sacred.  Thanks  to  modern 
dentistry,  tliat  fact  is  becoming 
better  known.  This  important 
factor  of  the  human  body  de- 
cides mastication  ;  and  masti- 
cation decides  digestion  ;  and 
digestion  decides  the  disposi- 
tion ;  and  the  disposition  de- 
cides the  destiny  of  nations. 
Thomas  Carlyle  thought  every 
thingwasgoingtoruin  because 
of  a  si.xty-year  attack  of  dys- 
pepsia. How  many  battles 
have  been  lost  or  won  ;  how 
many  sermons  have  been  po- 
tent or  a  failure ;  how  many 
chapters  of  the  world's  destiny 
have  been  decided  by  the  con- 
dition of  the  tooth  !  More 
and  more  let  it  be  guarded. 
All  prosperity  to  the  efforts 
made  for  its  health  !  Very  sa- 
cred let  the  tooth  be  kept, 
thougli  we  cannot  lift  it  like 
Buddha  into  worship.  We 
suspect  that  almost  every  error 
is  only  a  trutli  exaggerated. 
Adoration  where  there  ought 
to  be  nothing  stronger  than 
admiration. 

Among  the  most  absorb- 
ing chapters  of  Ceylonian 
•events  is  that  connected  with 
the  pearl  fisheries.  I  am  glad 
to  find,  since  coming  here, 
that  Sir  William  Baker's 
prophecies  concerning  them 
have  been  a  failure.  An  in- 
telligent Cingalese  told  me  yesterday  that  the  coming  season  he  thought  would  be  one 
of  the  most  profitable  in  the  Ceylon  pearl  fisheries.  Although  for  years  the  oysters 
were  gone,  taking  their  jewels  with  them,  the  year  1891  flung  a  necklace  that  astonished 
the  world.  How  much  was  the  value  of  the  pearls  yielded  I  know  not,  but  the  share 
of  the  English  Government  that  one  year  was  $4,818,000.  Yet  the  beautiful  pearl  in  hilt, 
15 


THE   SAAMI   ROCK   AT   TRIXCOMALKE    (WORSHIP   AT   SUNSET). 

The  Saami  Rock  of  Triiicomalee  is  believed  by  devout  Cingalese  to  be  a  fragment 
of  the  holy  Mount  Meru,  which  was  hurled  from  heaven  during  a  celestial  battle,  on 
■which  account  it  is  deeply  venerated.  Upon  its  summit  a  chapel  was  built  and  dedi- 
cated to  Siva,  which  is  best  known  as  the  Shrine  of  the  Thousand  Columns. 


226 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


or  necklace,  or  crown  gives  no  suggestion  of  the  process  through  which  it  came  ashore. 
But  for  a  large  and  efficient  army  of  police,  the  pearl  fisheries  of  Ceylon  would  produce  a 
plague.  Tiiink  of  the  tons  of  oysters  brought  to  the  bank  by  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  fisher- 
men, and  all  of  those  oysters  left  to  spoil  in  the  sun,  except  the  small  pearl  taken  from  here 
and  there  one,  and  all  this  goes  on  for  about  three  hot  months.  There  is  also  the  scramble 
for  the  pearls  which  would,  but  for  the  coustabulan,'  force,  be  so  easily  stolen.  It  is 
interesting,  also,  to  know  that  the  island  of  Ceylon  vies  with  the  main  coast  in  the 
production  of  jewels.  The  chrysolite  is  here.  The  garnet  is  here.  The  emerald  is  liere. 
The  amethyst  is  here.  The  moonstone  is  here.  The  sapphire  is  here.  The  ruby  is  here. 
Five  hundred  years  ago  the  greatest  ruby  in  the  world  was  owned  by  the  Emperor  of 
Ceylon.  It  was  about  six  inches  long,  and  as  thick  as  your  arm.  The  Buddhist  temple 
at  Kandy  is  a  conflagration  of  precious  stones.  The  Indian  Rajahs  array  themselves 
in  the  jewels  from  Ceylon.  An  English  syndicate  has  been  formed  for  gem-digging  in 
this  island.  Ceylon  itself  is  a  gem  in  the  world's  coronet.  In  many  a  home  of  Europe 
and  America  are  pearls  brought  from  the  pearl  banks  of  Ceylon.  They  have  been 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  and  the  fact  forgotten  that  they  were  by 
the  diving  Cingalese,  at  the  peril  of  their  life,  brought  up  from  depths  just  ofi"  these  Ceylon 
coasts.  Sixty  thousand  people  under  government  license  gather  on  these  banks,  and  at  the 
sound  of  a  gun  push  out  and  plunge  for  pearls.  The  statistician  fleetest  in  figures  could 
not  tell  how  much  has  been  added  to  the  world's  wealth  by  these  pearl  fisheries.  But 
one  season  an  English  Governor  of  Ceylon,  Sir  W.  Horton,  distinguished  himself  by  nearly 
destroying  the  fisheries.  As  he  approached  the  close  of  his  term  of  office  he  had  all  the 
oysters  taken  from  the  depths  and  examined  for  pearls  and  the  shells  thrown  away.  He 
hoped  by  one  mighty  haul  of  pearls  to  show  what  a  wonderful  Governor  he  was,  and 
imperiled  the  largest  and  richest  incomes  of  this  island.  For  a  long  while  nothing  seemed 
left  of  that  great  industry.  The  Government  house  that  was  built  fell  into  ruins,  and 
the  eighteen-pounder  that  used  to  fire  the  signal  for  the  boats  to  launch  was  rusted  and 
unwheeled,  and  filled  with  sand.  Nothing  but  gloom  and  thorny  bush,  and  barrenness 
remained  on  that  once  favored  beach,  up  which  men  carried  the  jewels  that  flashed  in 
hilts  of  swords,  and  on  the  necks  of  beauty,  and  in  the  coronets  of  emperors,  the  jewel 
that  seems  to  be  the  divine  favorite,  because  it  was  used  in  sacred  classics  as  a  symbol  of 
Him  who  is  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price,  and  the  twelve  shining  Gates  of  Heaven  are  made 
out  of  it. 


KETL'RN     To    THK    .MUNAMERV     OF     BURMKM-:     I'KIKSTS     Al-ihR    HKC.GING    THEIR    DAll.V 

FOOD. 


CHAPTER  XXIir. 

ISLE  OF   IVORY. 

^-■"^f  AID  a  gentleman  to  me  before  I  left  Australia,  "  Yon  will  die  in  Ceylon."  Some- 
^^^^^^^  what  startled  at  such  prognostication,  I  asked,  "Why  do  you  say  that?"  He 
k  "^  replied,  "  You  may  go  home,  but  you  will  be  so  charmed  by  what  you  see  in 
J^*-—^  Ce\lon  you  will  return  and  make  it  your  home  for  life."  Indeed,  all  ingenuity 
of  figure  and  phrase  have  been  employed  to  describe  the  charms  of  this  island.  As  Lake 
Galilee  by  its  loveliness  has  won  three  names,  so  Ceylon  has  been  crowned  by  multiform 
nomenclature.  Adam  and  Eve  adjourned  to  this  place  after  Paradise  was  confiscated — at 
least  so  think  the  ]\Iohammedans.  It  does  look  like  an  Edenic  annex.  In  Solomon's  time 
it  was  called  Tarshish,  and  the  Land  of  Ophir.  The  Romans  called  it  Taprobane.  Sinbad 
the  Sailor  called  it  Serendib.  John  ]\IiUon  called  it  Golden  Chersonese.  Moderns  have 
called  it  the  Isle  of  Palms,  and  the  Isle  of  Flowers;  the  "Pearl-drop  on  the  Brow  of 
India  ;"  the  "  Island  of  Jewels  ;"  the  "  Island  of  Spice  ;"  the  "  Show-place  of  the  Universe  ;" 
the  "Land  of  Hyacinth  and  Ruby."  Bishop  Heber  made  it  famous  writing  about  it: 
"  Where  every  prospect  pleases,  and  only  man  is  vile  ;"  a  version  somewhat  changed  by  the 
speculator  in  coffee  who  lost  his  all  in  Ceylon,  and  wrote  of  it :  "  Every  prospect  pleases, 
but  no  man  makes  a  pile."  Considering  the  coffee  and  tea  this  island  has  yielded,  it  might 
be  appropriately  called  the  Coffee  or  the  Tea  Caddy  of  the  world.  It  is  a  mixture  of  Yose- 
mite  and  Yellowstone  Park. 

Among  the  curious  fauna  of  Ceylon  are  the  flying-foxes.  Tliese  creatures  are  like 
foxes  with  the  exception  that  they  have  wings.  They  are  fond  of  palm  wine,  and  are  often 
found  intoxicated.  The  Cingalese  put  bowls  under  the  cocoanut  to  catch  the  sap  as  it 
distills  and  the  flying-foxes  sometimes  take  too  much  of  it.  They  are  found  drunk  in  the 
morning  on  the  scene  of  tlieir  wassail,  no  one  having  been  able  to  carry  tliem  home. 
Overcome  by  this  inebriation,  it  in  no  wise  injures  them  among  other  fl\ing-foxes,  for  they 
are  all  guilty  of  it.  They  belong  to  the  brute  creation,  and  ought  not  to  be  blamed  for 
taking  too  mucli,  and  there  are  no  temperance  societies  for  the  reformation  of  intemperate 
flying-foxes.  Tlie  simple  fact  is  that  these  flying-foxes  are  too  fond  of  their  cups.  The 
word  fox  means  "cunning,"  but  there  are  in  all  realms  instances  of  wiiere  those  most  cun- 
ning have  become  the  victims  of  wine.  Alas  for  these  unfortunate  subjects,  whether  they 
walk  or  fly  ! 

Ceylon  is  the  greatest  place  on  earth  for  elephants.  The  sportsmen  liave  driven  these 
mountains  of  flesh  back  farther  and  farther  until  most  people  when  they  come  to  Ceylon 
see  not  a  single  tusk,  and  so  far  from  beholding  an  elephant's  trunk,  if  they  do  not  keep  a 
sharp  look-out  for  their  baggage  tliey  lose  their  own  trunk.  But  the  elephants  afforded 
great  sport  to  Gordon  Cumming  and  Tom  Spinner  and  Samuel  W.  Baker.  Well  on  to  three 
thousand  of  these  monsters  have  been  transported  to  other  lands,  while  thousands  without 
number  have  been  hunted  down,  their  carcasses  left  for  the  jackals  after  the  tu.sks  had  been 
removed. 

But  it  is  no  easy  thing  to  hunt  elephants.  I  had  an  opportunitv  of  undertaking  it, 
but  two  reasons  hindered  me  :   First,  it  would  not  be  just  the  thing  for  a  man  who  preaches 

(227) 


2:28  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

the  gospel  of  peace  to  be  out  killing  elephants ;  and,  secondly,  when  I  went  out  to  hunt 
the  elephants  the  elephants  might  come  out  to  hunt  me,  and  I  do  not  think  the  result 
would  be  complimentary  to  myself.  What  an  international  joke  was  the  imperial  elephant 
hunt  a  few  years  ago  in  Ceylon.  The  sons  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Albert  Victor  and 
George,  were  coming  here,  and  five  hundred  "beaters,"  as  they  are  called,  were  out  for  a 
month  "  beating  "  elephants  from  the  wide  expanse  of  the  forest  into  closer  quarters  where 
the  royal  boys  might  have  the  rare  sport  of  killing  them.  But  the  affair  was  a  failure. 
The  ship  in  due  time  landed  the  boys  in  Colombo,  but  the  "  beaters  "  could  not  control  the 
elephants.  When  the  princes  arrived  in  the  evening  on  the  appro.ximate  grounds,  they 
were  told  that  there  were  two  herds  of  elephants  only  a  mile  off":  one  herd  of  fifteen,  and 
the  other  of  seven,  and  the  next  day  the  hunt  was  to  begin,  and  the  capture  to  be  made. 
Not  much  sleep  that  night,  I  warrant,  because  of  the  great  things  to  be  done  the  next  day. 
But  the  elephants  did  not  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion.  That  night  they  broke 
through  the  guards  and  went  crushing  down  the  trees  and  disappeared  among  the  jungles. 
Wide  and  arduous ,  attempt  was  made  to  re-assemble  them  where  they  could  be  noosed  and 
tied  up  and  reviewed  by  the  members  of  the  royal  family.  The  kraal,  or  strong  enclosure, 
made  out  of  trunks  of  trees  was  completed.'  A  grand-stand  had  been  erected.  A  place  had 
been  arranged  for  the  tame  elephants  ;  a  place  also  for  the  wild  elephants.  Strong  ropes 
were  ready.  The  hunter's  cry  had  resounded  through  the  mountains  :  "  Hari-hari-hari-hari- 
hari-hari-ho-ho  !  "  Expectation  was  at  the  height.  The  auditorium  of  the  forest  was 
ready.  The  audience  was  ready.  The  stage  of  the  theatre  was  ready — but  no  actors.  As 
when  a  bill  of  operatic  or  dramatic  entertainment  has  for  \\  eeks  been  published,  and  the 
uight  comes,  and  Patti's  throat  is  out  of  order,  or  the  tragedian  fails  to  come  because  of  an 
accident  on  the  rail  train  :  so  this  elephantine  failure  to  appear  put  everything  into  confu- 
sion. Prince  Albert  had  arrived  walking  with  the  Governor.  Prince  George  had  rode  in 
on  a  proud  steed  that  leaped  a  stream  without  at  all  disconcerting  his  rider.  The  telegraphic 
apparatus  and  the  cable  had  begun  to  click  restlessly  while  waiting  for  news  to  be  swung 
under  the  sea  from  Ceylon  to  the  throne  of  England  that  the  two  grandsons  had  either  cap- 
tured, or  been  present  at  the  capture,  of  twenty-two  wild  elephants.  Once  or  twice,  to  fill 
up  the  time,  there  had  been  a  false  alarm,  .shouting,  and  screaming,  and  snapping  of  tree 
branches,  and  cries  of,  "The  herd!  They  come!  The  herd!"  which  brought  out  the 
expectants,  flushed  and  pale,  upon  the  grand-stand  ;  but  a  vigorously  resounding  "  Oh, 
pshaw  !  "  finished  that  part  of  the  entertainment. 

The  time  had  arrived  when  Prince  Albert  must  take  the  train  for  Colombo,  and  he  and 
most  of  the  illustrious  party  left  the  scene.  But  Prince  George  remained  with  his  tutor, 
the  Reverend  J.  A.  Dalton.  I  suppose  the  minister  as  well  as  George  wanted  to  see  the 
elephant. 

On  the  following  day  something  was  accomplished.  A  man  got  near  enough  to  an 
elephant  to  be  hurt,  and  was  killed,  and  an  elephant  came  to  grief,  the  tail  of  the  elephant 
carried  off"  to  Prince  George  as  a  trophy,  a  slight  souvenir,  a  memento.  But  all  were 
disappointed,  and  the  Governor  blamed  Saunders,  and  Saunders  blamed  Dawson,  and 
Ekreligoda,  the  old  chief  who  had  been  busy  with  the  five  hundred  "  beaters"  in  gathering 
fifteen  of  the  tuskers,  blamed  Iddomalgoda,  the  old  chief  who  had  gathered  the  seven 
tuskers,  and  the  chagrined  spectators  blamed  Ceylon.  The  fact  was,  nobody  was  to  blame. 
The  elephants  simply  declined  to  take  part  in  the  mountain  drama.  They  are  a  wily, 
intelligent  and  aff"ectionate  race.  Again  and  again  a  group  of  them  have  been  seen  standing 
in  silence  about  the  stretched-out  carcass  of  some  one  of  their  familv.     The  wrathiest 


THK   WAR   i;i.i;rilANT   al-    india. 


(229) 


230 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


elephantine  stroke  ever  given  is  at  him  who  dares  wound  her  yonng.  Harnessed  and  put  in 
shafts,  there  liave  been  instances  where  they  have  droi^iDed  dead  under  the  humiliation.  But 
the  strength  and  uncoutliness  of  these  creatures  diverted  the  world  from  their  gentler  quali- 
ties. They  must  have  ears  very  impressionable.  If  one  be  accompanied  by  an  elephant-char- 
mer a  wliole  herd  will  do  no  damage.  Such  a  charmer  has  but  to  hum  the  words,  "  (Jm-ani- 
ari-navi-saringliam-saravaye,"  and  the  whole  herd  fall  back  terrified  and  rush  back  into  the 
jungle, — under  what  spell,  beastly  or  demoniac,  no  one  surmises.  How  the  old  monster  has 
come  swinging  down  the  centuries  !     In  ancient  battle  the  elephants  swung  their  tusks  to 

the  slaying  of  the  opposing  hosts. 


After  all  other  means  of  carrying 
beseiged  gates  have  failed,  they 
have  been  taken  by  elephants. 
One  of  these  ancient  cities  of  Cej'- 
lon  stood  up  defiant  month  after 
month  against  all  assault  Tlien 
Kadol,  a  famous  war  elephant, 
was  sent  to  charge  the  gate. 
Against  it  he  hurled  himself,  a 
living  battering-ram.  Red-hot 
lead  poured  on  him  from  the 
heights,  he  retreated.  Then  he 
was  encased  in  metal  plates  and 
started  for  another  charge,  and 
hurling  himself  again,  and  again, 
and  again  against  the  gate,  it  burst 
open  and  the  fortress  was  taken. 
Vast,  mysterious,  affectionate, 
gentle,  over-powering  monster ! 
For  centuries  he  held  possession 
of  these  forests,  and  he  still  washes 
in  these  lakes,  and  trumpets  to 
the  mountain  hurricane.  If  prac- 
tical use  can  be  made  of  him,  let 
t1ie  hunters  come  on  with  their 
fire-arms,  or  their  traps  ;  but  if  it 
be  merely  to  find  sport  that  they 
lacerate,  and  wound,  and  slay,  let 
them  take  less  noble  game. 

Of  one  other  creature  of  Cey- 
lon I  make  mention,  and  that  is 
tlie  most  dreadful  thing  that  glides  the  earth, — the  col:)ra.  Its  bite  is  death,  and  thousands 
have  expired  under  its  fang.  It  was  a  nnstery  to  me  that  the  people  of  Ceylon  and 
India  did  not  rise  for  its  extirpation,  but  the  fact  is  the  cobra  is  considered  sacred,  and  to 
have  divine  power,  and  therefore  the  most  celebrated  descendant  of  that  old  serpent,  the 
devil,  lives  on,  coils  up  in  the  hall-way,  attacks  the  bare  feet  of  the  coolie,  strikes  at  the 


FLIGHT   OF    ROCK   STEPS    AT   MIHINTAI.E. 


Mihiiitale  is  a  rocky  inoiintaiii  looo  feet  high,  to  which  King  Deweiiipiatissa 
was  enticed  by  the  god  Mahiiido  in  the  form  of  a  deer,  and  there  converted  to 
Bnddhism,  on  which  account  it  is  deeply  venerated.  The  summit  is  reached  by  a 
iiight  of  1S40  steps  of  gneiss  rock,  some  of  which  are  20  feet  long.  The  sight  of 
numerous  priests  in  yellow  robes,  and  multitudes  of  devotees  ascending  and  de- 
scending is  one  not  easily  forgotten. 


hunter,  and  is  as  potent  now  to  destroy  as  when  it  stung  into  fatal  paroxysm  the  children 
of  the  first  missionaries. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  231 

The  cobra  is  a  genuine  disciple  of  Bnddlia.  In  his  temple  you  find  a  statue  of  its 
founder  hovered  over  h\  the  hood  of  the  cobra,  as  in  cathedrals  there  is  a  halo  of  light 
around  the  Madonna.  To  kill  the  cobra  is  to  offend  Deity.  To  save  its  life  the  native  will 
coax  the  cobra  into  a  basket  of  leaves  and  float  him  duwn  the  river.  In  many  cases  the  cobra 
has  been  domesticated,  and  defends  the  house  like  a  watch-dog,  and  crawls  up  into  the  lap  of 
the  matron,  or  licks  the  milk  from  the  saucer  of  the  children.  How  beautiful  it  must  be  to 
have  one  of  them  coiled  around  your  pillow  !     The  dear  pets ! 

There  is  a  story  among  these  people  of  Ceylon  that  two  snakes,  the  cobra  and  ticprolonga, 
at  a  well  met  a  child  and  asked  from  her  a  drink.  She  said  she  would  give  them  a  drink  if 
they  would  not  hurt  her.  They  promised.  The  cobra  kept  his  promise,  but  the  ticprolonga 
stung  the  child  to  death.  Hence  the  ticprolonga  is  hated,  but  the  cobra  is  honored  and 
worshiped. 

But  the  cobra  has  an  enemy  which,  though  small,  is  capable  of  grappling  with  it,  and 
that  is  the  mongoose,  which  grows  to  about  the  size  of  a  small  cat.  When  not  called  the 
mongoose,  it  is  called  the  ichneumon.  It  feeds  on  an  herb  which  is  an  antidote  to  the  cobra's 
poison.  The  cobra  trembles  and  cowers  before  it.  The  mode  of  battle  sometimes  chosen 
b)  the  mongoose  is  to  bite  off  the  head  of  the  cobra.  This  radical  style  of  battle  leaves 
nothing  much  to  be  done.  After  the  cobra  has  lost  his  head  he  cannot  again  rally  his 
forces.  The  mongoose  has  been  taken  into  other  lands  for  exterminating  purposes ;  to 
Australia  to  kill  rabbits,  and  to  the  West  Indies  to  kill  the  rats.  I  suppose  in  all  depart- 
ments of  life  that  when  there  is  a  pest,  there  is  an  exterminator ;  where  there  is  an  evil, 
there  is  a  cure  ;  where  there  is  a  cobra,  there  is  a  mongoose.  Down  with  this  leligion  of 
snakes ! 

But  this  reminds  me  that  it  is  supposed  by  vast  multitudes  that  Ceylon  was  the  original 
Garden  of  Eden,  where  the  snake  first  appeared  on  reptilian  mission.  There  are  reasons  for 
belief  that  this  was  the  .site  where  the  first  homestead  was  opened  and  destro^'ed.  It  is  so 
near  the  equator  that  there  are  not  more  than  12°  of  Fahrenheit  difference  all  the  year 
round.  Perpetual  foliage,  perpetual  fruit,  and  all  st>'les  of  animal  life  prosper.  As  far  as 
warmth  is  concerned,  no  clothes  are  needed,  and  the  fig-leaves  would  still  be  appropriate 
fashion  if  circumstances  had  not  abolished  the  Edenese  patterns.  What  luxuriance,  and 
abundance,  and  superabundance  of  life  !  What  styles  of  plumage  do  not  the  birds  sport ! 
What  styles  of  scale  do  not  the  fishes  reveal !  What  styles  of  song  do  not  the  groves  have 
in  their  libretto  I  Here  on  the  roadside  and  clear  out  on  the  beach  of  the  sea  stands  the 
cocoanut  tree,  saying  :  "  Take  my  leaves  for  shade.  Take  the  juice  of  my  fruit  for  delectable 
drink.  Take  my  saccharine  for  sugar.  Take  my  fibre  for  the  cordage  of  your  ships.  Take 
my  oil  to  kindle  your  lamps !  Take  my  wood  to  fashion  your  cups  and  pitchers.  Take 
my  leaves  to  thatch  your  roofs.  Take  my  smooth  surface  on  which  to  print  your  books. 
Take  my  30,000,000  trees  covering  500,000  acres,  and  with  the  exportation  enrich  the 
world.  I  will  wave  in  your  fans,  and  spread  abroad  in  ^-our  umbrellas.  I  will  vibrate  in 
your  musical  instruments.     I  will  be  the  scrubbing-brushes  of  your  floors." 

Here  also  stands  the  palmyra  tree,  saying  :  "  I  am  at  your  disposal  with  these  arms.  I 
fed  your  ancestors  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  with  the  same  arms  I  will  feed 
your  descendants  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  from  now.     I  defy  the  centuries ! " 

Here  also  stands  the  nutmeg  tree,  saying :  "  I  am  ready  to  spice  your  beverages,  and 
enrich  ^  our  puddings  and  with  my  sweet  dust  make  insipid  things  palatable." 

He-  ■  also  stands  the  coffee  plant,  saying :  "  With  the  liquid  boiled  from  my  berry  I 
stimul    ^e  the  nations  morning  by  morning." 


232 


THE   EARTH   GH^DLED. 


Here  stands  the  tea  plant,  saying :  "  With  the  liquid  boiled  from  my  leaf  I  soothe  the 
world's  nerves  and  stimulate  the  world's  conversation  evening  by  evening." 

Here  stands  the  cinchona,  saying  :  "  I  am  the  foe  of  malaria.  In  all  climates  my  bitter- 
ness is  the  slaughter  of  fevers."  What  miracles  of  productiveness  are  these  islands.  Enough 
stigar  to  sweeten  all  the  world's  beverages ;  enough  bananas  to  fill  all  the  world's  fniit- 
baskets  ;  enough  rice  to  mi.x  all  the  world's  puddings  ;  enough  cocoanuts  to  powder  all  the 
world's  cakes  ;  enough  flowers  to  garland  all  the  world's  beauty. 

But  this  evening,  riding  through  a  cinnamon  grove,  I  first  tasted  the  leaves  and  bark 
of  that  condiment  so  valuable  and  delicate  that  transported  on  ships  its  aroma  is  dispelled 
if  placed  near  a  rival  bark.  Of  such  great  value  is  the  cinnamon  shrub  that  years  ago 
those  who   injured   it  in   Ceylon   were  put  to  death.      But  that  which  once  was  a  jungle 


SHRIN1-:   (IN-    THK   SrMMIT  OF  .\DAM  S    PEAK    AND   THE   SH\l"i\V  iil      llli:    11, Ai. 

There  is  much  disputing  about  this  sacred  footprint ;  some  Christians  declare  it  was  made  by  the  Apostle  Thomas  ;  the  Hindoos 
say  it  is  an  impression  lelt  by  Siva's  foot ;  the  Buddhists  maintain  that  it  was  left  by  their  Great  Master,  while  the  Mohammedans 
assert  that  the  print  was  produced  by  Adam  when  he  was  cast  out  of  Paradise  and  while  he  stood  on  one  foot  as  a  penance  for  his  sins. 

of  cinnamon  is  this  evening  a  park  of  gentlemen's  residences.  The  long,  white  dwelling- 
houses  are  bounded  Vv'ith  this  shrub  and  all  other  styles  of  growth  congregated  here, 
making  it  a  botanic  garden.  Doves  called  cinnamon  doves  hop  among  the  branches,  and 
crows,  more  poetically  styled  ravens,  which  never  could  sing,  but  think  they  can,  fly  across 
the  road  giving  full  test  to  their  vocables,  Birds  which  learned  their  chanting  under  the 
very  eaves  of  Heaven  overpower  all  with  their  "  Grand  March"  of  the  tropics.  The  hibiscus 
dapples  the  scene  with  its  scarlet  clusters.  All  shades  of  brown,  and  emerald,  and  saffron 
and  flamboyance,  melons,  limes,  mangosteens,  custard-apples,  guavas,  jsine-apples,  jessamine 
so  laden  with  aroma  they  have  to  hold  fast  to  the  wall,  and  begonias,  gloriosas  on  fire,  and 
orchids  so  delicate  other  lands  must  keep  them  under  conservatory,  but  here  defiant  of  all 
weather,  and  flowers  more  or  less  akin  to  the  azaleas,  and  honeysuckles,  and  phloxes,  and 
fuchsias,  and  chrysanthemums,  and  rhododendrons,  and  fox-gloves,  and  pansies,  which  dye 


LU 

3' 

z 

< 


z: 
< 


J 

< 

2. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


233 


the  plains  and  mountains  of  Ceylon  with  Heaven.  The  evening  hour  burns  incense  of  all 
styles  of  aromatics.  The  convolvulus,  blue  as  though  the  skj'  had  fallen,  and  butterflies 
spangling  the  air,  and  arms  of  trees  sleeved  with  blossoms,  and  rocks  upholstered  of  moss, 
commingling  sounds,  and  sights,  and  odors  until  eye,  and  ear,  and  nostril,  vie  with  each 
other  as  to  which  sense  shall  open  the  door  to  the  most  enchantment.  A  struggle  between 
music,  and  perfume,  and  iridescence.  Oleanders  reeling  in  intoxication  of  color.  Great 
banyan  trees  that  have  been  changing  their  mind  for  centuries,  each  centur\-  carrying  out  a 
new  plan  of  growth,  attract  our  attention,  and  see  us  pass  in  this  year  of  1894,  as  they  saw 
pass  the  generations  of  1794,  and  1694.  Colombo  is  so  thoroughly  embowered  in  foliage 
that  if  you  go  into  one  of  its  towers  and  look  down  upon  the  city  of  130,000  people  you 
cannot  see  a  house.  Oh,  the  trees  of  Ceylon  !  I\Iay  you  live  to  behold  the  morning  climb- 
ing down  through  their  branches,  or  the  evening  tipping  their  leaves  with  amber  and  gold  ! 
I  forgive  the  Buddhist  for  the  worship  of  trees  until  they  know  of  the  God  who  made  the 
trees.  I  wonder  not  that  there  are  some  trees  in  Ceylon  called  sacred.  To  me  all  trees  are 
sacred.  I  wonder  not  that  before  one  of  them  the  inhabitants  burn  camphor  flowers,  and 
hang  lamps  around  its  branches,  and  a  hundred  thousand  people  each  year  make  pilgrimage 
to  that  tree.  Worship  something  man  nnist,  and  until  he  hear  of  the  only  Being  worthy  of 
worship,  what  so  elevating  as  a  tree  !  "What  glory  enthroned  amid  its  foliage !  What  a 
majestic  doxology  spreads  out  in  its  branches !  What  a  voice  when  the  tempests  pass 
through  it !  How  it  looks  down  upon  the  cradle  and  the  grave  of  centuries  !  As  the  fruit 
of  one  tree  unlawfully  eaten  struck  the  race  with  woe,  and  the  uplifting  of  another  tree 
brings  peace  to  the  soul,  let  the  woodman  spare  the  tree,  and  all  nations  honor  it,  if,  through 
higher  teaching,  we  do  not.  Tike  the  Ceylonese,  worship  it !  How  consolatory  that  when 
we  no  more  walk  tmder  the  tree  branches  on  earth  we  may  see  the  "  Tree  of  life  which 
bears  twelve  manner  of  fruit,  and  yields  her  fruit  every  mouth,  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations !  " 


■  ..  *: 


.%&■■ 


GROUP   OF   HINDOO   GIRLS   AT   THKIR  TOILET. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


ENTRANCE  TO  INDIA. 


OHE  Bengal  Bay,  notwithstanding  its  reputation  for  cyclones,  smiled  on  ns  all  the 
way  until  the  color  of  its  water  changed,  by  reason  of  the  large  contribution  of 
mud  which  the  river  Hooghly,  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges,  makes  to  it. 
Up  this  river  we  must  go  one  hundred  miles  before  we  reach  that  for  which  we 
are  longing — a  sight  of  the  city  of  Calcutta.  We  have  taken  on  a  pilot,  and  yet  must 
anchor  for  the  night  outside,  as  the  river  Hooghly  is  constantly  changing  its  habits,  and  sud- 
denly deposits  sand-bars,  which  capsize  ships,  putting  them  all  under  except  the  top  of  the 
masts.  One  of  the  islands  in  this  river  is  called  the  James  and  Mary,  because  there,  in 
1694,  a  royal  ship  by  that  name  went  to  pieces.  The  entrance  to  Calcutta  excels  all  other 
approaches  in  uncertainty  and  peril.     Just  before  we  disembarked,  a  lad\-  said  to  me,  "  I  am 

surprised  at  >ou.  I  saw  you  calmly  writing  while  we 
were  passing  the  most  dangerous  places  in  this  river." 
The  fact  was,  I  did  not  know  enough  to  be  anxious  or 
alarmed. 

Two  other  ships,  one  from  China,  and  the  other 
from  England,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  about 
the  same  time  that  we  arrived,  and  such  windings  up 
the  great  stream,  turning  this  way  and  that  way  without 
any  seeming  reason  ;  now  by  this  bank,  and  now  by  the 
opposite  bank,  and  now  equidistant  from  the  cocoanut 
palms  on  either  side  ;  and  then  slowing  up  until  motion 
was  almost  imperceptible,  suggested  the  necessity  of 
skillful  pilotage.  Indeed,  tlie  pilots  here  receive  larger 
compensation  tlian  the  pilots  of  any  other  harbor,  and 
they  soon  become  rich  men,  if  they  do  not  make  a  mis- 
take and  go  down  with  all  hands  on  board. 

This  Hooghly  river  evidently  intended  you  shall  not 
come  too  suddenly  upon  the  great  capital  of  India.  You 
must  wait.  You  must  have  your  anticipations  aroused. 
The  lights  must  be  turned  on  gradually.  You  must  not 
have  your  nerves  struck  by  instantaneous  appearance. 
You  walk  from  starboard  to  larboard,  and  from  larboard 
to  starboard,  wondering  from  what  quarter  the  first  dome  will  bubble  on  your  vision.  At  last 
the  towers,  the  minarets,  the  pillars  appear.  The  wharves  are  lined  with  people  in  color  and 
dress  foreign  to  those  with  which  we  have  for  a  lifetime  been  most  familiar.  The  great  ship  is 
slowly  and  laboriously  pushed  and  drawn  to  the  wharf.  The  gang-plank  is  lowered,  and  we 
descend  into  a  world  as  new  to  us  as  though  it  had  been  on  the  other  side  of  the  uni\erse.  We 
had  no  trouble  with  the  custom-house  officials  about  any  of  our  baggage  except  a  kodak,  the 


DEVOTEE    ENDURING    FIRE. 


THE   WORLD   AS   vSEEN   TO-DAY. 


235 


small  instrument  for  takin*;  photographs.  The  officer  had  never  seen  one.  He  asked  what  it 
was,  handling  it  very  cautiously.  He  put  it  down  and  took  it  up,  looking  as  closely  as  he 
dared  at  the  opening,  and  then  went  away  to  consider.  He,  after  a  while,  returned  and  said 
that  this  mvsterious  machine  would  have  to  go  to  the  custom-house — he  would  not  take  the 
responsibility  of  letting  it  pass.  He  evidently  took  the  kodak  as  a  deadly  instru- 
ment. He  suspected  it  might  be  an  infernal  machine  and  had  apprehension  that  we 
might  intend  with  it  to  blow  up  the  governmental  buildings.  In  vain  we  assured 
him  that  innocent  people  in  America  were  accustomed  to  use  it  ;  that  it  never 
imperiled  life,  and  we  proposed  to  partially  open   it   and  let   him  see.      But  this  proposal 


Slliri'ixr.    IN    TTIE    RIVER    HOOGHLV. 


seemed  to  increase  his  fear,  and  he  retreated  to  the  door  of  the  cabin  ready  to  jump  over- 
board in  case  the  ship  should  be  blown  up  bv  this  deadly  kodak.  All  the  rest  of  our  lug- 
gage he  chalked  as  safe  to  pass,  but  sent  a  servant,  whose  life  the  custom-house  officer  esti- 
mated at  less  value  than  his  own,  to  remove  the  kodak.  On  the  following  day,  after  long 
explanation  and  the  payment  of  high  dut\-  for  the  privilege  of  bringing  into  India  this, 
instrument  of  terror,  the  kodak,  we  got  possession  of  our  property.  We  warn  Americans 
traveling  in  foreign  lands  to  keep  their  kodak  out  of  sight  as  far  as  possible.  It 
is  wrong  to  shake  the  nervous  system  of  public  officials,  and  you  may  get  yourself 
arrested    where  release    is    difficult.      Our    kodak    has   taken    many    things   since    we    left 


236 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


home,  but  this  is  the  only  time  our  kodak  itself  was  taken.  We  bade  farewell  to 
the  passengers,  very  few  in  number,  because  this  is  early  for  travel  in  India.  A 
most  delightful  acquaintance  we  had  formed  with  General  Lance,  brigadier-general  com- 
manding  the   fort,   whose   guns  look   down  at  us  from  the  parapets.     The  General    had 

been  to  Australia  for 
summer  recupera- 
tion ;  a  soldier  in 
every  move  m  cut, 
and  a  gentleman 
whose  rare  qualities 
entranced  us  from 
the  time  we  formed 
his  acquaintance  on 
ship-board  until  the 
day  we  left  him  at 
his  door  in  the  fort 
with  a  groujj  of  dis- 
tinguished people 
whom  he  had  invited 
tu  meet  us  at  lunch- 
eon. His  appearance 
was  that  of  the  late 
General  W.  T.  Sher- 
man. I  saw  this  En- 
glish officer  twenty 
times  a  day  on  my 
way  from  Australia 
to  India,  and  always 
said  within  myself: 
"  Here  comes  Gen- 
eral Sherman."  The 
English  officer  has 
long  been  in  the 
army  in  India  ;  has 
been  in  battle  ;  and 
maintains  h  i  g  h 
Christian  character, 
though  far  away 
from  the  land  of  his 
nativity,  which  can- 
not be  said  of  all  rep- 
resentatives in  mili- 
tarj'  and  civil  service 
many  strangers  in  the  course  of  my  busy 
but  General  Lance  will  alwavs  remain 


lilSHUi-    HJ-I.JK  >    MAitii,    i^ALi^LllA   CATHEDRAL. 


when  they  get  from  home  influence.     I  meet  so 

life  that   many  go   into  indenniteness  of  memory 

in  my  mind  the  unique,  cultivated,  obliging,  talented,  attractive  and  splendid  Christian 

gentleman. 


237 


238 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


That  evening  at  the  Great  Eastern  Hotel  we  planned  the  particulars  of  our  Indian  jour- 
ney. There  are  many  things  we  want  to  see,  but  there  are  many  things  we  must 
see.  Our  first  surprise  is  the  weather.  We  were  told  again  and  again,  especially  by 
English  gentlemen,  that  we  must  not  go  to  India  .in  September,  but  we  must  go  then  or 
not  go  at  all.     We  thought  of  India  in  this  month  as  a  sort  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace,  if 

not  seven  times,  at 
least  three  times 
heated,  and  sympa- 
thized with  Shad- 
rach,  IMeshach  and 
Abednego.  We  fear- 
ed being  cremated 
in  the  first  day  or 
two.  The  fact  is  that 
we  have  often  found 
it  hotter  in  Brooklyn 
and  New  York  than 
in  Calcutta. 

First  of  all,  we 
are  clothed  in  white, 
and  in  thinnest  fab- 
ric. Then,  in  our 
sitting  and  sleeping 
rooms,  as  well  as  in 
the  dining-room,  the 
fan,  called  the 
pmika,  reaching 
from  wall  to  wall,  is 
ever  on  the  swing, 
pulled  by  some  one 
outside  the  door.  I 
wonder  that  all  lands 
afflicted  with  hot 
weather  have  not 
adopted  the  punka. 
It  makes  the  differ- 
ence between  de- 
lectation and  suffo- 
cation. It  would  be 
more  expensive  in 
our  lands  than  here, 
where  waoes  are  four 


f 


1  Ij;    OF  THE   BLACK   HOLE,    CALCUTTA. 


cents  a  day  and  a  man  finds  himself.  All  that  is  asked  for  the  punka  swung  all  da\' and  all 
night,  employing  four  different  persons,  is  twenty-five  cents.  But  though  American  and 
English  wages  would  make  the  swinging  of  the  punka  more  expensive,  how  much  nerve, 
and  muscle,  and  brain,  and  health,  and  life  it  would  save,  and  in  the  end  it  would  be  an 
economy. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


239 


I  preached  under  a  punka  in  tliis  cit\-,  in  a  room  wliere  four  punkas  were  going,  and  I 
kept  cool.  Whv  not  have  them  in  our  American  churches?  City  audiences  then  in  July 
and  August  would  be  almost  as  large  as  in  the  month  of  May.  The  punka  is  not  an  Indian 
institution.  The  English  introduced  it.  Formerly  coolies  with  a  small  fan  stood  all  night 
long  over  the  sweltering  European  or  American.  Our  winters  in  New  York  and  London 
are  well  combated  by  steam  pipe  and  furnace  register,  but  we  need  the  punka  transported 
to  battle  the  summers.  Instead  of  being  used  only  in  our  northern  latitudes  for  the  making 
of  restaurants  tolerable,  it  might  be  made  a  matter  of  national  health  and  Christianization. 

The  cit\-  has  put  in  bronze  and  marble  its  appreciation  of  the  men  who  have  made 
India  what  it  is.  Good  and  great  Bishop  Heber  stands  in  the  Cathedral,  sculptor's  chisel 
having  perpetuated  a  forehead  on  which  genius  was  enthroned,  and  a  face  in  which  kindness 
took  possession  of  every  lineament.     You   can  almost  hear  his  gown  rustle,  and  see  his 


»^;^.'  ■»»Ji»*''i 


f0^"^3^' 


M 


V^W"^ 


GROUP   OF   DEVOTEES  IN   A   TEMPLE. 

fingers  tremble  with  exquisite  hymnology,  as  he  writes  "  From  Greenland's  icy  mountains  ; 
From  India's  coral  strand."  But  the  men  of  statesmanship  and  war  confront  you  in  the 
open  spaces  of  the  city  :  Sir  John  Lawrence  and  General  Outram,  of  Lucknow  fame,  reining 
in  a  charger,  and  Sir  William  Peel,  of  the  Naval  Brigade,  and  Lord  Hardinge,  and  Earl  of 
Mayo. 

But  the  men  of  the  past  do  not  monopolize  the  attention  of  this  city.  I  have  no  doubt 
there  are  persons  walking  up  and  down  these  streets  every  day  who  have  as  noble  ch.arac- 
teristics  as  belong  to  any  of  those  departed  heroes  on  the  parks  wrapped  in  robes  of  stone, 
or  mounted  on  horses  of  stone,  or  looking  off  with  eyes  of  stone.  The  Calcutta  of  to-day 
is  greater  than  the  Calcutta  of  the  past.  A  great  city  of  nearly  900,000  inhabitants.  It 
excites  the  wonder  of  every  visitor.  Its  architecture,  its  gardens,  its  humane  intitutions,  its 
thronged  streets,  its  equipages  moving  out  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  its  colleges,  its  university, 


240 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


its  esplanade,  its  magnificent  hospitals,  its  Christian  missionaries  are  a  fascination.  The 
Viceroy  at  this  season  is  in  the  Himalayas,  and  much  of  the  life  of  the  city  is  awa)-,  but 
the  place  is  merry  and  wide-awake.  Polo  games,  football,  fine  oarsmanship,  and  groups 
bound  on  recreation  are  here  and  now  to  be  seen  by  those  who  enjoy  them,  while  religious 
work  is  in  Rill  blast  and  ready  to  absorb  the  attention  of  those  who  are  hoping  for  the 
redemption  of  India.  Nothing  can  hide  the  fact  that  idolatry  and  superstition  are  yet 
dominant  in  Calcutta.  Brahma,  and  Vishnu,  and  Siva  have  more  worshipers  than  the  God 
of  heaven. 

For   the    first  time  I  had   the  opportiuiity   of    talking  with   a   fakir,    or    a    man    who 
has   renounced    the   world   and    lives    on   alms.       He    sat    under    a    rough    covering   on    a 


BDKMESR   CART. 


platform  of  brick.  He  was  covered  with  the  ashes  of  the  dead,  and  was  at  the  time 
I  saw  him  rubbing  more  of  those  ashes  upon  his  arms  and  legs.  He  understood  and  spoke 
English.  I  .said  to  him  :  "  How  long  have  you  been  .seated  here?"  He  replied  :  "  Fifteen 
years."  "  Have  these  idols  which  I  see  any  power  of  themselves  to  help  or  destroy  ?  "  He 
said  :   "  No  ;  the\-  only  represent  God.     There  is  but  one  God." 

Question:   "When  people  die  where  do  thev  go  to?" 

Ansivcr :  "That  depends  upon  what  they  have  been  doing.  If  they  have  been  doing 
good,  to  heaven  ;  if  they  have  been  doing  evil,  to  hell." 

Qitcstioii :  "But  do  you  not  believe  in  the  tran.smigration  of  .souls,  and  that  after  death 
we  go  into  birds  or  animals  of  some  sort?" 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


241 


Answer:  ''Yes;  the  last  creature  a  man  is  thinking  of  wliile  dying  is  the  one  into 
which  he  will  go.  If  he  is  thinking  of  a  bird  he  will  go  into  a  bird,  and  if  he  is  thinking 
of  a  cow  he  will  go  into  a  cow." 

Question  :  "  I  thought  you  said  that  at  death  the  soul  goes  to  heaven  or  hell  ?  " 

Anszver :  "  He  goes  there  by  a  gradual  process.     It  may  take  him  years  and  years." 

Question:  "Can  any  one  become  a  Hindoo?     Could  I  become  a  Hindoo?" 

Answer:   "Yes;  you  could." 

Question  :  "  How  could  I  become  a  Hindoo  ?  " 

Anszver:  "By  doing  as  the  Hindoos  do." 

But  as  I  looked  upon  the  poor,  filthy  wretch,  bedaubing  himself  with  the  ashes  of  the 
dead,  I  thought  the  last  thing  on  earth  I  would  want  to  become  would  be  a  Hindoo. 


HINDU   DEVOTEES — CARS   OF  JUGGERN.\UT. 

I  had  to-day  the  pleasure  of  visiting  the  DuflF  College  and  of  addressing  some  three 
hundred  or  four  hundred  young  students.  All  of  them  save  four  or  five  were  Hindoos,  Parsees 
or  Mohammedans.  They  understood  English,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  address  an  audience  so 
alert  and  inquisitive.  Dr.  Duff  raised  the  money  for  this  college  in  his  own  land,  and 
pictures  and  statuettes  in  different  rooms  of  the  college  bring  to  mind  that  wonderful 
personage.  How  well  I  remember  him  on  the  platform  of  Broadway  Tabernacle,  New  York, 
pleading  the  cause  of  India  at  the  anniversary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions.  His  vehemence  was  something  terrific.  His  manner  was  a  defiance  of  all 
elocutionary  laws.  How  he  wept,  and  thundered,  and  satirized,  and  prayed,  and  threatened, 
and  enraptured  that  great  assemblage  !  In  Dr.  Duff's  day  this  college  at  Calcutta  was  entirely 
controlled  by  the  evangelical  spirit.  I  hope  it  is  so  now,  for  if  these  hundreds  of  young 
men  are  educated  only  as  to  the  head,  and  go  forth  with  a  developed  acumen  and 
16 


242 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


augmented  power,  not  to  conunend  Clirist,  bnt  to  preach  Hindooisni  and  Alohammedanism, 
the  advantage  to  tlie  world  would  be  infinitesnial. 

Calcutta  is  the  headquarters  of  Bishop  Tliobnrn's  work,  and  what  Bishop  Heber  did  in 
his  day  Bishop  Thoburn  is  now  doing  lor  the  gospelization  (jf  India.  I  saw  some  of  his 
schools  and  preached  to  many  of  his  people,  and  got  iacts  in  regard  to  what  is  being  done 
here  and  throughout  India  by  consecrated  men  and  women,  enough  to  thrill  all  Christendom 
with  gladness.  About  twenty-five  thousand  converts  in  India  every  year  under  the  Metho- 
dist missions,  and  about  twent\--fi\'e  thousand  converts  under  the  Baptist  missions,  and  at 
least  seventy-five  thousand  converts  under  all  the  missions  every  year.  But  more  than  that, 
Christianity  is  undermining  heathenism,  and  not  a  city,  or  town,  or  neighborhood  of  India 
but  directly  or  indirectly  feels  the  influence,  and  the  day  speeds  on  when  Hindooism  will  go 
down  with  a  crash.  There  are  wdiole  villages  which  have  given  up  their  gods,  and  where 
not  an  idol  is  left.  The  serfdom  of  womanhood  is  being  loosened,  and  the  iron  grip  of  caste 
is  being  relaxed.  Human  sacrifices  have  ceased,  and  the  last  spark  of  the  last  funeral  pyre 
has  been  extinguished,  and  the  wheel  of  the  Juggernaut  has  ceased  to  crush.  All  India 
will  be  taken  for  Christ.  If  any  one  has  any  disheartenments  let  him  keep  them  as  his 
own  private  property — he  is  welcome  to  all  of  them.  But  if  any  man  has  any  encourage- 
ments to  utter,  let  him  utter  them.  What  we  want  is  less  croaking  owls  of  the  night,  and 
more  morning  larks  with  spread  wing,  ready  to  meet  the  advancing  day.  Fold  up  now 
Naomi  and  Windham,  and  give  us  Ariel,  or  Mt.  Pisgah,  or  Coronation ! 

Glad  am  I  that  the  last  thing  I  did  in  Calcutta  was  to  preach  that  gospel  which  is  to 
save  India,  and  to  save  the  world.  Witli  what  interest  I  looked  over  the  pulpit  into  the 
dark  faces  of  these  natives,  and  saw  them  illumined  with  heavenly  anticipation.  Wliile 
)et  they  were  seated  I  took  my  departure  for  a  railroad  train.  A  swift  carriage  brought 
me  to  the  station  not  more  than  half  a  minute  before  starting.  I  came  nearer  to  mi.'^sing 
the  train  than  I  hope  any  one  of  us  will  come  to  missing  hea\-en. 


L  \K\  !■  II     IMAI.l'..^    Ill      IMi  .u.\. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

BURNING  OF  THE  DEAD. 

GOW  I  "V'ill  take  you  to  the  very  headquavters  of  heathendom,  to  the  very  capital 
of  Hindooisni  ;  for  what  ^Nlecca  is  to  the  ]\Iohaininedan,  and  what  Jerusalem  is 
to  the  Christian,  Benares,  India,  is  to  the  Hindoo.  We  arrived  there  in  the 
evening,  and  the  next  morning  we  started  out  earh',  among  other  things  to  see 
the  burning  of  the  dead.  We  saw  it,  cremation,  not  as  many  good  people  in  America  and 
England  are  now  advocating  it,  namely,  the  burning  of  the  dead  in  clean,  and  orderly,  and 
refined  crematory,  the  hot  furnace  soon  reducing  the  human  form  to  a  powder  to  be  carefully 
preserved  in  an  urn ;  but  cremation  as  the  Hindoos  practice  it.  We  got  into  a  boat  and 
were  rowed  down  the  river  Ganges  until  we  came  opposite  to  where  five  dead  bodies  lay, 
four  of  them  women  wr^nped  in  red  garments,  and  a  man  wrapped  in  white.  Our  boat  fast- 
ened, we  waited  and  waiched.  High  piles  of  wood  were  on  the  bank,  and  this  wood  is  care- 
fully weighed  on  large  scales,  according  as  the  friends  of  the  deceased  can  afford  to  pay  for 
it.  In  manv  cases  onlv  a  few  sticks  can  be  afforded,  and  the  dead  body  is  burned  only  a 
little,  and  then  thrown  into  the  Ganges.  But  where  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  are  well- 
to-do,  an  abundance  of  wood  in  pieces  four  or  five  feet  long  is  purchased.  Two  or  three 
layers  of  sticks  are  then  put  on  the  ground  to  receive  the  dead  fomi.  Small  pieces  of  san- 
dal-wood are  inserted  to  produce  fragrance.  The  deceased  is  lifted  from  the  resting-place  and 
put  upon  this  wood.  Then  the  cover  is  removed  from  the  face  of  the  corpse  and  it  is  bathed 
with  the  water  of  the  Ganges.  Then  several  more  layers  of  wood  are  put  upon  the  body, 
and  other  sticks  are  placed  on  both  sides  of  it,  but  the  head  and  feet  are  left  exposed. 
Then  a  quantity  of  grease  sufficient  to  make  everything  inflammable  is  put  on  the  wood, 
and  into  the  mouth  of  the  dead.  Then  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Benares,  his  fortune 
made  in  this  way,  furnishes  the  fire,  and,  after  the  priest  has  mumbled  a  few  words,  the 
eldest  son  walks  three  times  around  the  sacred  pile,  and  then  applies  the  torch,  and  the  fire 
blazes  up,  and  in  a  short  time  the  body  has  become  the  ashes  which  the  relatives  throw  into 
the  Ganges. 

We  saw  floating  past  us  on  the  Ganges  the  body  of  a  child  which  had  been  only  partly 
burned,  because  the  parents  could  not  afford  enough  wood.  While  we  watched  the  floating 
form  of  the  child  a  crow  alighted  upon  it.  In  the  mean  time  hundreds  of  Hindoos  were 
bathing  in  the  river,  dipping  their  heads,  filling  their  mouths,  supplying  their  brass  cups, 
muttering  words  of  so-called  prayer.  Such  a  mingling  of  superstition,  and  loathsomeness, 
and  inhumanity  I  had  never  before  seen.  The  Ganges  is  to  the  Hindoo  the  best  river  of  all 
the  earth,  but  to  me  it  is  the  vilest  stream  that  ever  rolled  its  stench  in  horror  to  the  sea.  I 
looked  all  along  the  banks  for  the  mourners  for  the  dead.  I  saw  in  two  of  the  cities  nine 
cremations,  but  in  no  case  a  sad  look  or  a  tear.  I  said  to  friends:  "How  is  this?  Have 
the  living  no  grief  for  the  dead?"  I  found  that  the  women  do  not  come  forth  on  such 
occasions,  but  that  does  not  account  for  the  absence  of  all  signs  of  grief.  There  is  another 
reason  more  potent.  ^len  do  not  see  the  faces  of  their  wives  until  after  marriage.  They 
take  them  on  recommendation.     Marriages  thus  formed,  of  course,  have  not  much  affection 

(243) 


244 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


in  them.  Women  are  married  at  seven  and  ten  years  of  age,  and  are  grandmothers  at 
thirty.  Such  unwisely-formed  family  associations  do  not  imply  much  ardor  of  love.  The 
family  so  jDoorly  put  together — who  wonders  that  it  is  easily  taken  apart  ?  And  so  I  account 
for  the  absence  of  all  signs  of  grief  at  the  cremation  of  the  Hindoos. 

Benares  is  the  capital  of  Hindooisni  and  Buddhism,  but  Hindooism  has  trampled  out 
Buddhism,  the  hoof  of  the  one  monster  on  the  grizzly  neck  of  the  other  monster.  It  is  also 
the  capital  of  filth,  and  the  capital  of  malodors,  and  the  capital  of  indecency.  The  Hin- 
doos say  they  have  300,000,000  gods.  Benares  being  the  headquarters  of  these  deities,  )on 
will  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  the  making  of  gods  is  a  profitable  business.     Here  there 


CORPSE   IN  GANGES   AND   CREMATION   ON  THE   BANK. 

are  carpenters  making  wooden  gods,  and  brass  workers  making  brass  gods,  and  sculptors 
making  stone  gods,  and  potters  making  clay  gods.  I  cannot  think  of  the  abominations 
practiced  here  without  a  recoil  of  stomach  and  a  need  of  cologne.  Although  much  is  said 
about  the  carvings  on  the  temples  of  this  city,  everything  is  so  vile  that  there  is  not  nnich 
room  left  for  the  resthetic.  The  devotees  enter  the  temples  nineteen-twentieths  unclothed, 
and  depart  begging.  All  that  Hindooism  can  do  for  a  man  or  woman  it  does  here.  Not- 
withstanding all  that  may  have  been  said  in  its  favor  at  the  Parliament  of  Religions  in 
Chicago,  it  makes  man  a  brute,  and  woman  the  lowest  type  of  slave.  I  would  rather  be  a 
horse  or  a  cow  or  a  dog  in  India  than  be  a  woman.  The  greatest  disaster  that  can  happen 
to  a  Hindoo  is  that  he  was  born  at  all. 


(245) 


246 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


Benares  is  imposino;  in  the  distance  as  you  look  at  it  from  the  other  side  of  the  Ganges. 
Tlie  fortv-seveii  gliats,  or  fliglits  of  stone  steps,  reaching  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  build- 
ings high  up  on  the  banks,  mark  a  place  for  the  ascent  and  descent  of  the  sublimities.  The 
eye  is  lost  in  the  bewilderment  of  tombs,  shrines,  minarets,  palaces  and  temples.  It  is  the 
glorification  of  steps,  the  triumph  of  stairways.  But  looked  at  close  by,  the  temples, 
though  large  and  expensive,  are  anything  but  attractive.  The  seeming  gold  in  man\-  cases 
turns  out  to  be  brass.  •  The  precious  stones  in  the  wall  turn  out  to  be  paint.  The  marble  is 
stucco.  The  slippery  and  disgusting  steps  lead  you  to  images  of  horrible  visage,  and  the 
flowers  put  upon  the  altar  have  their  fragrance  submerged  by  that  which  is  the  opposite  of 
aromatics. 

After  you  have  seen  the  ghats,  the  two  great  things  in  Benares  that  you  must  see  are  the 


PRKPARINr.    FOR   THE   IMMOLATION    OF   A    HINDOO   wmOW, 

Golden  and  Monkev  Temples.  About  the  vast  Golden  Temple  there  is  not  as  much  gold 
as  would  make  an  English  sovereign.  The  air  itself  is  asphyxiated.  Here  we  see  men 
making  gods  out  of  mud  and  then  putting  their  hands  together  in  worship  of  that  which 
themselves  have  made.  vSacred  cows  walk  up  and  down  the  temple.  Here  stood  a  Fakir 
with  a  right  arm  uplifted,  and  for  so  long  a  time  that  he  could  not  take  it  down,  and  the 
nails  of  the  hand  had  grown  until  they  looked  like  serpents  winding  in  and  around  the  palm. 
The  god  of  the  Golden  Temple  is  Siva,  or  the  poison  god.  Devils  wait  upon  him.  He 
is  the  god  of  war,  of  famine,  of  pestilence.  He  is  the  destroyer.  He  has  around  his  neck 
a  string  of  skulls.  Before  him  bow  men  whose  hair  never  knew  a  comb.  They  eat  carrion 
and   that  which  is  worse.     Bells  and  drums  here  set  up  a  racket.     Pilgrims  come  from 


1-47 


2  48 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


hundreds  of  miles  away,  spending  their  last  piece  of  money  and  exhausting  their  last  atom  of 
strength  in  order  to  reach  this  Golden  Teuii^le,  glad  to  die  in  or  near  it,  and  have  the  ashes 
of  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  Ganges. 

We  took  a  carriage  and  went  still  further  on  to  see  the  INIonkey  Temple,  so-called 
because  in  and  around  the  building  monkeys  abound  and  are  kept  as  sacred.  All  evolution- 
ists should  visit  this  temple  devoted  to  the  family  from  which  their  ancestors  came.  These 
monkeys  chatter,  and  wink,  and  climb,  and  look  wise,  and  look  silly,  and  have  full  posses- 
sion of  the  place.  We  were  asked  at  the  entrance  of  the  Monkey  Temple  to  take  off  our 
shoes  because  of  the  sacredness  of  the  place,  but  a  small  contribution  placed  in  the  hands  of 

an  attendant  resulted  m  a 
-•-  *s£>~i^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ~  permission  to  enter  with 
''-',~j'>'"?iS\»^^^^^ffi^B^^^^^^^^  our  shoes  on.  As  the 
•'  -  r<  - , ii'<a«#gBiiiM Hilili^^ti^aH^^SBISg  Golden  Temple  is  dedi- 
cated to  Siva,  the  poison 
god,  this  Monkey  Temple 
is  dedicated  to  Siva's  wife, 
a  deitess,  that  must  be 
propitiated,  or  she  will 
disease,  and  blast,  and  de- 
stroy. For  centuries  this 
spit-fire  has  been  wor- 
shiped. She  is  the  god- 
dess of  scold,  and  slap,  and 
termagancy.  She  is  sup>- 
posed  to  be  a  supernatural 
Xantippe ;  hence  to  her 
are  brought  flowers  and 
rice,  and  here  and  there 
the  flowers  are  spattered 
with  the  blood  of  goats 
slain  in  sacrifice. 

As  we  walk  to-day 
through  this  Monkey 
Temple  we  must  not  hit, 
or  tease,  or  hurt  oue  of 
them.  Two  Engl isii men 
years  ago  lost  their  lives 
by  the  maltreatment  of  a 
monkey.  Passing  along  one  of  these  Indian  streets,  a  monkey  did  not  soon  enough  get  out 
of  the  way,  and  one  of  the  Englishmen  struck  it  with  his  cane.  Immediately  the  people 
and  the  priests  gathered  around  these  strangers,  and  the  public  wrath  increased  until  the  two 
Englishmen  were  pounded  to  death  for  having  struck  a  monkey.  No  land  in  all  the  world 
so  reveres  the  monkey  as  India,  as  no  other  land  has  a  temple  called  after  it.  One  of  the 
Rajahs  of  India  spent  100,000  rupees  in  the  marriage  of  two  monkeys.  A  nuptial  proces- 
sion was  formed,  in  which  moved  camels,  elephants,  tigers,  cattle,  and  palanquins  of  richly- 
dressed  people.  Bands  of  music  sounded  the  wedding  march.  Dancing  parties  kept  the 
night  sleepless.     It  was  twelve  days  before  the  monkey  and  monkeyess  were  free  from  their 


IIRAHMA    AS    THR    FOl-R-FACED    BUDDHA. 


'**     >*, 


'» ii  •''      ,:: 


.^lifl 


H 


(249; 


250  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

round  of  _^ay  attentions.  In  no  place  l:>ut  India  conld  such  a  carnival  have  occurred.  Bui 
after  all,  while  we  cannot  approve  of  the  ]\Ionke\'  Temple,  the  monkey  is  sacred  to  hilarity. 
I  defy  an}'  one  to  watch  a  monkey  one  minitte  without  lau,L;hter.  Why  was  this  creature 
made?  For  the  world's  amusement.  The  mission  of  some  animals  is  left  doubtful  and  we 
cannot  see  the  use  of  this  or  that  quadruped,  or  this  or  that  insect,  but  the  mission  of  the 
ape  is  certain  ;  all  around  the  earth  it  entertains.  Whether  seated  at  the  top  of  this  temple 
in  India,  or  cutting  up  its  antics  on  the  top  of  a  hand-organ,  it  stirs  the  sense  of  the  ludi- 
crous ;  tickles  the  diaphragm  into  cachinnation  ;  topples  gravity  into  play,  and  accomplishes 
that  for  which  it  was  created.  The  eagle,  and  the  lion,  and  the  gazelle,  and  the  robin  no 
more  certainly  have  their  mission  than  has  the  monkey.  But  it  implies  a  low  form  of 
Hindooism  when  this  embodied  mimicry  of  the  human  race  is  lifted  into  worship. 

There  are,  however,  alleviations  for  Benares.  I  attended  worship  in  one  of  the  Christian 
missions.  The  sermon,  though  delivered  in  Hindoostanee,  of  which  I  could  not  understand 
a  word,  thrilled  me  with  its  earnestness  and  tenderness  of  tone,  especially  when  the 
missionar\'  told  me  at  the  close  of  the  service  that  he  recently  baptized  a  man  who  was 
converted  through  reading  one  of  my  sermons  among  the  hills  of  India.  The  songs  of  the 
two  Christian  assemblages  I  visited  in  this  city,  although  the  tunes  were  new,  and  the  senti- 
ments not  translated,  were  uplifting  and  inspiring  to  the  last  degree.  There  was  also  a 
school  of  600  native  girls,  an  institution  established  by  a  Rajah  of  generosity  and  wealth, 
a  graduate  of  Madras  University.  But  more  than  all,  the  missionaries  are  busy,  some  of 
them  preaching  on  the  ghats,  some  of  them  in  churches,  in  chapels,  and  bazaars.  The 
London  Missionary  Society  has  here  its  college  for  young  men,  and  its  schools  for  children, 
and  its  houses  of  worship  for  all.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  has  its  eight  schools, 
all  filled  with  learners.  The  evangelizing  work  of  the  Wesleyans  and  the  Baptists  are  felt 
in  all  parts  of  Benares.     In  its  mightiest  stronghold  Hindooism  is  being  assaulted. 

And  now  as  to  the  industrious  malignment  of  missionaries  :  It  has  been  said  by  some 
travelers  after  their  return  to  America  or  England  that  the  missionaries  are  leading  a  life 
full  of  indolence  and  luxury.  That  is  a  falsehood  that  I  would  say  is  as  high  as  heaven 
if  it  did  not  go  down  in  the  opposite  direction.  When  strangers  come  into  these  tropical 
climates,  the  missionaries  do  their  best  to  entertain  them,  making  sacrifices  for  that  purpose. 
In  the  city  of  Benares  a  missionary  told  me  that  a  gentleman  coming  from  England  into 
one  of  the  mission  stations  of  India,  the  missionaries  banded  together  to  entertain  him. 
Among  other  things,  they  had  a  ham  boiled,  prepared  and  beautifully  decorated,  and  the 
same  ham  was  passed  around  from  house  to  house  as  this  stranger  appeared,  and  in  other 
respects  a  conspiracy  of  kindness  was  effected.  The  visitor  went  home  to  England  and  wrote 
and  spoke  of  the  luxury  in  which  the  missionaries  of  India  were  living.  Americans  and 
Englishmen  come  to  these  tropical  regions  and  find  a  missionary  living  under  palms  and 
with  different  styles  of  fruits  on  his  table,  and  forget  that  palms  are  here  as  cheap  as  hickory 
or  pine  in  America,  and  rich  fruits  as  cheap  as  plain  apples.  They  find  here  missionaries  sleep- 
ing under  punkas,  these  fans  swung  day  and  night  by  coolies,  and  forget  that  four  cents  a  day  is 
good  wages  here,  and  the  man  finds  himself  Four  cents  a  day  for  a  coachman  ;  a  missionary 
can  afford  to  ride.  There  have  been  missionaries  who  have  come  to  these  hot  climates  resoh'ing 
to  live  as  the  natives  live,  and  one  or  two  years  have  finished  their  work,  their  chief  use  on 
missionary  ground  being  that  of  furnishing  for  a  large  funeral  the  chief  object  of  interest. 
So  far  from  living  in  idleness,  no  men  on  earth  work  so  hard  as  the  missionaries  in  the 
foreign  field.  Against  fearful  odds,  and  with  three  millions  of  Christians  opposed  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty   millions  of   Hindoos,  Mohammedans   and  other  false    religions,   these 


GOSAIN   TEMPLE,    BENARES. 


(25") 


252 


THE  EARTH   GIRDLED. 


missionaries  are  trying  to  take  India  for  God.  Let  the  good  people  of  America,  and  Eng- 
land, and  Scotland,  and  of  all  Christendom  add  ninety-nine  and  three-quarters  per  cent  to 
their  appreciation  of  the  fidelity  and  consecration  of  foreign  missionaries.  Far  away  from 
home,  in  an  exhausting  climate,  and  compelled  to  send  their  children  to  England,  Scotland 
or  America  so  as  to  escape  the  corrupt  conversation  and  behavior  of  the  natives,  these  men 
and  women  of  God  toil  on  until  they  drop  into  their  graves.  But  they  will  get  their  chief 
appreciation  when  their  work  is  over  and  the  day  is  won,  as  it  will  be  won.  No  place  in 
heaven  will  be  too  good  for  them.  Some  of  the  ministers  at  home  who  live  on  salaries  of 
#4000  to  $5000  a  year,  preaching  the  gospel  of  Him  who  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head, 
will  enter  heaven  and  be  welcomed,  and  while  looking  for  a  place  to  sit  down,  they  will  be 
told  :  "  Yonder  in  that  lower  line  of  thrones  you  will  take  your  places.  Not  on  the  thrones 
nearest  the  King ;  they  are  reserved  for  the  missionaries  !  " 


THK    KING   OF  NEPAUI,    AND   COMMANDING   GENERALS. 


(n 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

GREAT  SNAKES 

HAT  a  suggestive  word  is  the  word  "  snakes  !  "  You  cannot  pronounce  it  without 
two  hisses.  Well,  the  snake  question  in  India  is  an  absorbing  question.  In 
Bengal,  i.  e.,  the  region  approximate  to  Calcutta,  in  1892  there  were  9190 
deaths  caused  by  the  bite  of  serpents,  and  last  year  10,747  deaths.  On  an 
average,  20,000  people  die  of  snake-bite  in  India  every  year.  No  wonder  the  government 
has  offered  a  reward  for  the  killing  of  snakes,  and  117,120  have  been  slain! 

In  a  former  chapter  I  stated  that  the  natural  enemy  of  the  serpent  was  the  mongoose, 
the  latter  living  on  herbs  that  are  an  antidote  to  the  poison,  but  since  then  I  have  seen  a 
contest  between  a  cobra  and  a  mongoose,  and  have  from  my  own  observation  to  correct 
some  things  that  were  told  me  about  them. 
They  were  in  the  possession  of  a  snake- 
charmer.  The  mongoose  is  about  the 
color  and  size  of  our  American  squirrel, 
and  one  would  think  it  unable  to  cope 
with  the  cobra,  but  the  quadruped  can 
master  the  reptile.  As  the  snake-charmer 
put  forth  the  cobra  and  the  mongoose, 
they  seemed  unwilling  to  touch  each 
other,  the  cobra  avoiding  the  mongoose 
and  the  mongoose  avoiding  the  cobra. 
But  the  owner  of  the  two  was  determined 
to  bring  on  battle,  and  he  succeeded.  The 
mongoose  coming  too  near  the  cobra,  it 
lifted  its  head,  widened  it  into  the  shape 
of  a  hood  and  struck  its  fangs  at  the 
mongoose.  The  mongoose  bit  back  at  the 
assailant,  and  the  cobra  gave  a  second 
stroke.  Then  the  ire  of  the  mongoose 
was  up,  and  it  went  furioush'  at  the  reptile. 
They  seized  each  other  in  the  fray,  in  which  it  was  evident  one  or  both  must  die.  The 
mongoose  took  the  cobra  by  the  brain  and  held  on  with  a  prolonged  bite,  accompanied  by 
the  wagging  of  its  head  as  if  in  emphasis  of  rage,  and  the  cobra  wound  its  thick  folds  about 
the  mongoose,  round  and  round,  until  the  quadruped  was  hidden  beneath  the  ringlets  of  the 
serpent.  The  teeth  of  the  quadruped  sank  into  the  brain  of  the  reptile,  and  the  folds  of 
the  snake  coiled  about  the  neck  and  body  of  the  mongoose.  Matters  had  gone  so  far  there 
could  be  no  truce,  no  let-up,  no  halting.  Tighter  and  tighter  the  coil  of  the  one  ;  deeper 
and  deeper  the  teeth  of  the  other.  Now  it  would  seem  that  the  cobra  would  gain  the  day, 
and  now  the  mongoose.  I  l:now  not  which  of  the  contestants  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  the 
other  by-standers,  but  my  sympathies  were   with  the  mongoose.     The  result  could  not  be 

(253) 


MONGOOSE. 


254 


THE    EARTH    GIRDLED. 


much  longer  postponed.  One  more  terrible  writhing  and  struggle  and  all  was  still.  Then 
out  from  the  foam,  and  blood,  and  dust,  and  fury  of  the  fray  walked  the  mongoose,  the 
cobra  giving  no  sign.  It  had  given  its  last  hiss.  It  had  bitten  the  last  child.  It  had  lifted 
its  horrid  crest  for  the  last  time. 

This  reptilian  curse  is  everywhere  in  India.      Taking  a  walk  in   one  of  the  cities,  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  one  of  these  creatures  wiigglcd   across  the  pavement.      The  ne.xt 

f  Mpf'i'W'ii^t'i^'i«'B'i|i     morning,  walking  out,  a  cobra  pre- 

!;a'      ^  '  r|     sented  itself  for  the  assault  of  my 

.     friends.    A  missionary  here  told  me 

that  he  saw  a  large  cobra  which 

j^      had   been   caged  and   petted  by  a 

native  man  and  woman,  and  they 

let  it  crawl  awa}-,  and  as  it  went 

into  a  hole   the  man  and  woman 

said,    "  Good    cobra  ;    dear   cobra ; 

salaam  ;  salaam." 

We  were  in  several  places 
where  on  rising  in  the  morning  I 
was  careful  to  examine  mv  shoes  to 
see  if  they  were  occupied  by  a 
snake,  for  they  love  to  coil  up  in 
shoes.  Occasionally  they  crawl 
into  the  bed,  and  more  than  once  I 
was  told  not  to  let  the  shawl  on 
the  bed  cover  hang  to  the  floor,  for 
sometimes  snakes  ascended  to  co- 
partnership in  slumber.  When  I 
objected  to  two  lizards  in  the  room 
they  were  pronounced  of  no  im- 
portance, and  I  could  get  no  one 
to  expel  them.  Every  native  and 
every  European  has  some  nice 
snake  story  with  which  he  is  ready 
to  entertain  you.  That  crawling 
creature,  for  which  we  have  such 
an  aversion,  excites  no  such  feel- 
ings in  the  natives  of  India.  One 
of  the  cities  is  named  after  it — 
Nagmore,  or  The  City  of  the 
Snake.  Temples  have  been  dedi- 
cated to  it.  The  shadow  of  the 
reptile  falling  on  any  one  is  considered  a  sure  promise  of  good  luck.  A  day  in  July  is  set 
apart  for  special  homage  to  it.  Its  worshipers  draw  a  serpentine  figure  on  a  house  and 
then  clasp  the  hands  in  prayer  before  it.  On  that  especial  Sabbath  of  the  year  they  sit 
down  by  caves,  or  near  holes  in  the  earth,  waiting  for  reptiles  to  appear,  and  if  they  appear 
fruits  are  offered.  Snakedom  is  a  strong  dominion  in  India.  The  bite  of  the  cobra  is 
never  cured.     Nitrate  of  silver,   and  arsenic,  and   ammonia,  and  snake-stone    have    been 


FESTIVAL   OF   THE   SEKPENTS. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


255 


used  in  vain.  The  patient  ninst  die.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  hours.  The  snake- 
charmers  who  play  with  these  creatures  have,  I  imagine,  in  most  cases  previously  extracted 
the  fangs. 

A  Hindoo  boA-,  mentioned  by  the  daughter  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  could  with  his  voice 
charm  these  creatures.  Tliey  would  come  out  of  the  fields,  and  from  among  tiie  rocks,  and 
play  around  him  and  do  as  he  commanded.  So  great  was  the  power  of  this  young  charmer 
that  people  came  from  far  and  near  to 
see  him,  and  many  to  worship  him. 
At  last  he  sported  with  these  products 
of  the  jungle  once  too  often.  Under 
some  provocation  one  of  them  struck 
him  and  he  died. 

It  was  entertaining  to  see  a  lad  in 
jugglery  with  snakes  in  front  of  our 
hotel.  He  would  take  a  blanket  and 
shake  it  out  in  our  presence,  and  no 
snake  was  in  sight.  Afterwards  he 
would  wrap  the  blanket  around  him 
and  then  drop  it,  and  around  his  neck 
was  coiled  a  long  reptile.  He  would 
blow  a  noisy  musical  instrument,  and 
all  the  snakes  in  the  basket  would  lift 
up  their  heads  and  the  snake  on  the 
ground  would  begin  to  dance.  Did 
ever  orchestra  entertain  such  an  audi- 
ence ?  These  snakes  prefer  cool  places 
and  a  gentleman  told  me  that  one 
morning  in  one  of  these  large  cities 
he  found  a  cobra  peacefully  and  hap- 
pib;  resting  itself  in  his  bath-room. 
When  property  is  deeded  it  is  quite 
usual  to  mention  the  snakes  as  deeded 
with  it. 

Walking  through  a  public  garden 
a  gentleman  said  to  me  :  "  Be  a  little 
careful  and  watch  where  you  tread  ; 
for  there  are  a  good  many  snakes  in 
this  region."  Returning  from  the  walk 
to  our  carriage  we  found  a  monstrous 
snake  close  by.  It  was  dead.  Some 
yotnig  men  had  killed  it  and  would,  as  a  joke,  have  put  it  in  our  carriage,  but  the  driver 
said  he  had  protested. 

Passsing  along  a  street  my  son  said  :  "  Did  you  notice  what  was  on  the  side  of  you  ?  " 
I  said,  "  No."  Then  he  drew  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  we  had  passed  near  several  large 
baskets  of  cobras — of  course,  under  the  care  of  their  keepers.  Bishop  Heber,  known  as  a 
good  authority  in  missionary  hyinnology,  is  not  so  well  known  as  an  authority  on  great 
snakes,  but  in  a  chapter  of  his  diary  written  on  the  Ganges,  he  gives  this  experience  : 


INDIAN   CONTtTRING   TRICK. 


^56 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


"  This  morning  as  I  was  at  breakfast  the  alarm  was  given  of  a  great  snake  in  the  after 
cabin,  wliich  had  fonnd  its  way  into  a  basket  containing  two  caps,  presents  for  my  wife  and 
myself  from  Dccca.  The  reptile  was  innnediately  and  without  examination  prononnced  to 
be  a  cobra,  and  caused  great  alarm  among  my  ser\'ants.  However,  on  dislodging  it  from  its 
retreat,  it  pro\x'd  to  be  only  a  water-snake.     It  appeared  to  have  been  coiled  np  ver}'  neatly 

aronnd  the  fnr  of  a  cap,  and  thongh  its  bite  wonld  not  have 
been  venomous,  it  certainly  would  have  inflicted  a  severe 
wound  on  anybody  who  had  incautiously  opened  the  basket. 
I  had  once  or  twice  fancied  I  heard  a  gentle  hissing,  but 
the  idea  of  a  snake  in  the  boat  seemed  so  impossible  that 
I  attributed  the  noise  to  different  causes,  or  to  fancy.  Much 
wonder  was  expressed  at  finding  it  in  such  a  place,  but  as  I 
have  seen  one  of  the  same  kind  climb  a  tree,  it  is  probable 
that  it  had  ascended  one  of  the  ropes  b}-  which  the  boat  is 
moored,  and  so  got  among  us.  I  have  heard  of  one  English 
lady  at  Patna  who  once  lay  a  whole  night  with  a  cobra  under 
her  pillow.  She  repeatedly  thought  during  the  night  that 
something  moved,  and  in  the  morning  when  sli-^  snatched 
the  pillow  away  she  found  the  thick,  black  throat,  the  square 
head  and  green,  diamond-like  eye  advanced  within  two  inches 
of  her  neck.  The  snake,  fortunately,  was  without  malice. 
His  hood  was  uninflated,  and  he  was  merely  enjoying  the 
wannth  of  his  nest.  But,  alas  for  her  if  she  had  during  the 
night  pressed  the  reptile  a  little  too  roughly  !  " 

So  wrote  the  good  Bishop.  I  wish  he  had  gone  on  and 
given  us  his  opinion  why  the  snake  was  created  at  all.  It 
may  be  that,  before  its  ApoUyonic  possession,  its  streaks,  and 
spots,  and  variegation  of  color  may  have  been  attractive  and 
it  was  a  study  of  the  beautiful.  It  may  be  that  the  world 
needed  the  reptile  as  a  perpetual  symbol  of  the  sly  and  the 
poisonous.  It  may  be  that  the  human  race  required  admoni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  under  the  loveliest  and  sweetest  things 
lurks  peril.  Perhaps  it  was  to  make  one  more  addition  to  the 
world  of  mystery,  the  realm  of  the  unknown  always  vaster 
than  the  realm  of  the  known.  z\fter  we  have  carried  the 
torch  of  exploration  into  some  cathedral  of  mystery  and  are 
congratulating  ourselves  that  we  have  found  out  e\'erything, 
we  look  around  and  discover  that  for  the  one  open  door  we 
have  entered  there  are  twenty  doors  yet  unopened.  T^arger 
than  all  the  combined  libraries  of  what  the  world  knows 
would  be  the  library  of  what  the  world  does  not  know. 
Come  now,  thou  wise-acre !  Explain  the  cobra  di  capello. 
As  for  myself,  I  adjourn  the  attempt  at  explanation.  What  a  dull  place  heaven  would  be 
if  we  knew  everything  here !     Universal  knowledge  now  would  stupefy  the  eternities. 

In  our  northern  latitudes,  where  we  so  seldom  see  the  sly  and  venomous  reptile,  we  can 
hardly  appreciate  why  such  prominence  is  given  in  Oriental  literature,  and  especially  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  to  metaphors  connected  with  the  reptile.     The  sufferings  of  Christ  and  His 


>' 


fff| 


A    HINDOO  JUGGLER. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


-57 


final  victory  are  set  forth  b)-  a  serpentine  figure,  where  it  is  said  of  the  descendant  of  woman 
and  the  descendant  of  the  serpent,  "It  shall   bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 

heel."  The  painful  laceration  of  the  foot  by  a  serpent  fang 
suggestive  of  the  sorrows  of  Christ,  and  the  stamping  on  a 
snake's  head  until  it  is  slain  suggestive  of  our  Lord's  triumph  : 
"  It  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel." 

In  Paradisaical  times  the  Devil  took  the  form  of  a 
snake,  and  there  is  the  satanic  look  in  ever\^  reptile  that  I 
have  ever  seen,  whether  in  India  or  the  United  States.  Solo- 
mon says  the  work  of  rum  is  serpentine,  adderine  ;  but  people 
do  not  realize  that  he  is  describing  delirium  tremens  when 
he  says,  "  It  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like 
adder."  When  people  have 
delirium  tremens  they  alway 
see  snakes.  David,  speaking 
of  the  influence  of  bad  men, 
says  :  "  Their  poison  is  like 
the  poison  of  serpents."  The 

THE  FAKIR  OF  THE  IMMOVABLE  FOOT.  ..,.-,       , 

strong  snnilarity  oi  the  eel 
and  the  serpent  is  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  when  speaking 
of  a  father  and  his  son,  it  says  :  "  If  he  a.sk  meat  will  he 
give  him  a  serpent?"  Christ  said  to  the  hypocritical  Phari- 
sees :     "  Ye   generation    of 


an 


^fyt.  ,^- , 


••£... 


if 


Vipers 


I  " 


FAKIR    HANGING   TO    A    LIMB. 


But  the  snake  will 
have  to  leave  India,  and 
leave  the  world.  If  St. 
Patrick  drove  these  crea- 
tures out  of  Ireland,  as 
many  suppose,  he  is  worthy 
of  all  the  St.  Patrick  din- 
ners spread  in  his  memon,'. 
Genesis,  the  first  book  in 
the  Bible,  describes  the 
entrance    of   the    serpent  ; 

Revelation,  the  last  book  of  the  Bible,  describes  its  extirpa- 
tion, where  St.  John  speaks  of  the  destruction  of  "  that  old 
serpent,  called  the  Devil."  That  I  take  both  literally  and 
figurativelv.  While  we  congratulate  ourselves  that  our 
Christian  lands  are  comparatively  free  from  reptiles,  there 
are  as  man}-  cobras  in  England  and  America  as  in  India. 
They  crawl  through   libraries  and  sting  the  soul  of  the 

FAKIR  OF  THE  LONG  NAILS.  yo""g  "i'^^"  ^^1°  "P^^s  a  bad  book.     Thcy  ciawl  through 

(The  growth  ofthe  nails  shows  how  long  the    parlors    and    liiss    in    the    gossiping    conver.sation.     They 

hand  has  been  held  in  this  one  position.)  .^.  ,  ,-,  .  ii-.i  j 

Wind  in  and  out  among  the  decanters,  and  ale  pitchers,  and 
demijohns   of  those  who  are  becoming  the  victims  of  intoxicants.     They  slyly  put  their 
fangs  out   from  between  the  lids  of  the   infidel  essay.     They  coil  around  the  legs  of  the 
17 


258 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


gaming-table.  They  lift  their  heads  among  the  orange  blossoms  of  unwise  marriages. 
They  crawl  under  the  sea  with  the  length  of  a  submarine  cable.  The\-  arch  the 
heavens  with  international  malevolence.  They  wind  the  throat  of  every  cannon.  They 
snuggle  in  the  hilt  of  ever\-  sword.  They  are  in  the  black  links  of  every  chain. 
Cobras!  Away  with  them!  The  gospel  balm  is  the  only  antidote  to  the  poison.  The 
thunders  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  only  things  that  can  destroy 
them. 


HINDOO   STONE   CAKVERS, 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF   LUCKNOW. 

'S  onr  train  glided  into  the  dimly-lighted  station,  I  asked  the  giiard,  "  Is  this 
Lncknow  ? "  and  he  answered,  "  Lucknow,"  at  the  prommciation  of  which 
proper  name  emotions  rnshed  through  bodv,  mind  and  sonl. 

The  word  is  a  synonym  of  suffering,  of  cruelty,  of  heroism,  of  horror 
such  as  is  suggested  by  hardly  any  other  word.  We  have  for  thirty-five  jears  been  reading 
of  the  agonies  there  endured  and  the  daring  deeds  there  witnessed.  It  was  my  great  desire 
to  have  some  one  who  had  witnessed  the  scenes  transacted  in  Lucknow  in  1857  conduct  us 
over  the  place.  We  found  just  the  man.  He  was  a  young  soldier  at  the  time  the  greatest 
mutiny  of  the  ages  broke  out,  and  he  was  put  with  others  inside  of  the  Residenc\-,  which 
was  a  cluster  of  buildings  making  a  fortress  in  which  the  representatives  of  the  English 
Government  lived,  and  which  was  to  be  the  scene  of  an  endurance  and  a  bombardment,  the 
stor\-  of  which,  poetr}"  and  painting  and  history,  and  secular  and  sacred  eloquence  have 
been  trying  to  depict.  Our  escort  not  onl\-  had  a  good  memory  of  what  had  happened,  but 
had  talent  enough  to  rehearse  the  tragedy. 

In  the  early  part  of  1857  all  over  India  the  natives  were  ready  to  break  out  in  rebellion 
against  all  foreigners,  and  especially  against  the  civil  and  military  representatives  of  the 
English  Government. 

A  half  dozen  causes  are  mentioned  for  the  feeling  of  discontent  and  insurrection  that 
was  evidenced  throughout  India.  The  most  of  these  causes  were  mere  pretexts.  Greased 
cartridges  were  no  doubt  an  exasperation.  The  grease  ordered  by  the  English  Government 
to  be  used  on  these  cartridges  was  taken  from  cows  or  pigs,  and  grease  to  the  Hindoos  is 
unclean,  and  to  bite  these  cartridges  at  the  loading  of  the  guns  would  be  an  offence  to  the 
Hindoos'  religion.  The  leaders  of  the  Hindoos  said  that  these  greased  cartridges  were  only 
part  of  an  attempt  by  the  English  Government  to  make  the  natives  give  up  their  religion  ; 
hence  unbounded  indignation  was  aroused. 

Another  cause  of  the  mutiny  was  that  another  large  province  of  India  had  been 
annexed  to  the  British  Empire,  and  thousands  of  officials  in  the  employ  of  the  king  of  that 
province  were  thrown  out  of  position,  and  they   were  all   ready  for  trouble-making. 

Another  cause  was  said  to  be  the  bad  government  exercised  by  some  English  officials 
in  India. 

The  simple  fact  was  that  the  natives  of  India  were  a  conquered  race,  and  the  English 
were  the  conquerors.  For  one  hundred  years  the  British  sceptre  waved  over  India,  and  the 
Indians  wanted  to  break  that  sceptre.  There  never  had  been  any  love  or  sympath)-  between 
the  natives  of  India  and  the  Europeans  ;  there  is  none  now. 

Before  the  time  of  the  great  mutiny  the  English  Government  risked  much  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  natives.  Too  many  of  them  manned  the  forts.  Too  many  of  them  were 
in  governmental  employ.  And  now  the  time  had  come  for  a  wide  outbreak.  The  natives 
had  persuaded  themselves  that  they  could  send  the  English  Government  flving,  and  to 
accomplish  it,  dagger,  and  sword,  and  fireanns,  and  mutilation,  and  slaughter  must  do  their 
worst. 

(259) 


26o 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


It  was  evident  in  Lncknow  that  the  natives  were  about  to  rise  and  put  to  death  all  the 
Europeans  they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  and  into  the  Residency  the  Christian  population 
of  Lucknow  hastened  for  defence  from  the  tigers  in  human  form  which  were  growling  for 
their  victims.  The  occupants  of  the  Residency,  or  fort,  were  military  and  non-combatants, 
men,  women  and  children,  in  number  about  1692.  I  suggest  in  one  sentence  some  of  the 
chief  woes  to  which  they  were  subjected,  when  I  say  that  these  people  were  in  the  Residency 
five  months  without  a  single  change  of  clothing  ;  some  of  the  time  the  heat  at  120  and  130 
degrees  ;  the  place  black  with  flies,  and  all  asquirm  with  vermin  ;  firing  of  the  enemy  upon 
them  ceasing  neither  day  nor  night ;  the  hospital  crowded  with  the  dying  ;  smallpox,  scurvy, 
cholera,  adding  their  work  to  that  of  shot  and  shell  ;  women  brought  up  in  all  comfort  and 
never  having  known  want,  crowded  and  sacrificed  in  a  cellar  where  nine  children  were  born  ; 


I.IHI'TFN\NTS    TIAVKT.OCK    ANP    FrSKI.TKN. 


less  and  less  food  ;  no  water  except  that  which  was  brought  from  a  well  under  the  enemy's 
fire,  so  that  the  water  obtained  was  at  the  price  of  blood  ;  the  stench  of  the  dead  horses  added 
to  the  effluvia  of  corpses,  and  all  the  sufferers  waiting  for  the  moment  when  the  army 
of  60,000  shrieking  Hindoo  devils  should  break  in  upon  the  garrison  of  the  Residency  ; 
now  reduced  bv  wounds  and  sickness  and  death  to  976  men,  women  and  children. 

"Call  me  early,"  I  said,  "to-morrow  morning,  and  let  us  be  at  the  Residency  before 
the  sun  becomes  too  hot."  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  left  our  hotel  in  Lucknow, 
and  I  said  to  our  obliging,  gentlemanly  escort,  "  Please  take  us  along  the  road  by  whicli  Have- 
lock  and  Outran!  came  to  the  relief  of  the  Residency."  That  was  the  way  v.-e  went.  There 
was  a  solemn  stillness  as  we  approached  the  gate  of  the  Residencv.  Battered  and  torn  is 
the  masonrv  of  the  entrance.     Signature  of  shot,  and   punctuation  of  cannon  ball,  all  up 


RUI.IKF    U1--    I.rCKNIlW, 


■1261) 


262 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


and  down  and  t_'\er\\vhere.  "Here  to  the  left,"  said  our  escort,  "are  the  remains  of  a 
building,  the  first  floor  of  which  in  other  da\s  had  been  used  as  a  banqueting  hall,  but  then 
was  used  as  a  hospital.  At  this  part  the  amputations  took  place,  and  all  such  patients  died. 
The  heat  was  so  great  and  the  food  so  insulificient  that  the  poor  fellows  could  not  recover 
from  the  loss  of  blood  ;  they  all  died.  Amputations  were  performed  without  chloroform. 
All  the  anaesthetics  were  exhausted.  A  fracture  that  in  other  climates  and  imder  other  circum- 
stances would  have  come  to  easy  convalescence,  here  proved  fatal.  Yonder  was  Dr.  Fayrer's 
house,  who  was  surgeon  of  the  place,  and  is  now  Queen  Victoria's  doctor.  This  upper 
room  was  the  officers'  room,  and  there  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  our  dear  commander,  was 
wounded.      While  he  sat  there  a  shell  struck  the  room,  and  some  one  suggested  that  he  had 


-■:^ 


GENERAL   HAVEI.OCK'S   GREETING   BV   THE   CHRISTIANS    WHOM    HE   SAVED. 

better  leave  the  room,  but  he  smiled  and  said,  'Lightning  never  strikes  twice  in  the  same 
place.'  Hardly  had  he  said  this  when  another  .shell  tore  off  his  thigh,  and  he  was  carried 
dying  into  Dr.  Fayrer's  house  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  Sir  Henr\-  Lawrence  had  been 
in  poor  health  for  a  long  time  before  the  mutiny.  He  had  been  in  the  Indian  service  for 
years,  and  he  had  started  for  England  to  recover  his  health,  but  getting  as  far  as  Bombay, 
the  English  Government  requested  him  to  remain  at  least  a  while,  for  he  could  not  be 
spared  in  such  dangerous  times.  He  came  here  to  Lucknow,  and  foreseeing  the  siege  of 
this  Residency  had  filled  many  of  the  rooms  with  grain,  without  which  the  Residency 
would  have  been  obliged  to  surrender.  There  were  also  taken  by  him  into  this  Residency 
rice,  and  sugar,  and  charcoal,  and  fodder  for  the  oxen,  and  hay  for  the  horses.  But  now, 
at  the  time  when  all  the  people  were  looking  to  him  for  wisdom  and  courage,  Sir  Henry  is 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


263 


dying."  Our  escort  describes  the  scene,  unique,  tender,  beautiful  and  overpowering,  and 
while  I  stood  on  the  very  spot  where  the  sighs  and  groans  of  the  besieged,  and  lacerated, 
and  broken-hearted  met  the  whiz  of  bullets,  and  the  demoniac  hiss  of  bursting  shell,  and 
the  roar  of  batteries,  my  escort  gave  me  the  particulars. 

"  As  soon  as  Sir  Henry  was  told   that  he  had  not  uiany  hours  to  live  he  asked  the 
chaplain  to  administer  to  him 


the  holy  communion.  He  felt 
particularly  anxious  for  the 
safety  of  the  women  in  the 
Residency  who,  at  any  moment, 
miglit  be  subjected  to  the  sav- 
ages who  howled  around  the 
Resideuc\',  their  breaking  in 
onh'  a  matter  of  time,  unless 
reinforcements  should  come. 
He  would  frequently  say  to 
those  who  surrounded  his  death 
couch,  '  Save  the  ladies.  God 
help  the  poor  women  and  chil- 
dren ! '  He  gave  directions  for 
the  desperate  defence  of  the 
place.  He  asked  forgiveness 
of  all  those  whom  he  might 
unintentionally  have  neglected 
or  offended.  He  left  a  message 
for  all  his  friends.  He  forgot 
not  to  give  direction  for  tlie 
care  of  his  favorite  horse.  He 
charged  the  officers,  saying, 
'  By  no  means  surrender.  Make 
no  treaty  or  compromise  with 
the  desperadoes.  Die  fighting.' 
He  took  charge  of  the  asylum 
he     had    established     for    the 


He  gave 


THE  SIGNATURES   OF  THE   FOUR   GRE.\T   LIVING  HEROES   OF  LUCKNOW. 

I  obtained  these  signatures  at  the  table  of  General  Sir  Heury  M.  Havelock,  in  the 
United  Sen'ice  Club,  London,  where  he  had  invited  these  Generals  to  meet  me. 


children  of  soldiers, 
directions  for  his  burial,  say- 
ing, '  No  nonsense,  no  fuss. 
Let  me  be  buried  with  the 
men.'  He  dictated  his  own 
epitaph,  which  I  read  above 
his  tomb  .  '  Here  lies  Henry 
Lawrence,  who  tried  to  do  his  duty.  l\La>-  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  his  soul.'  He  said,  '  I 
would  like  to  have  a  passage  of  vScripture  added  to  the  words  on  my  grave,  such  as:  "To 
the  Lord  our  God  belong  mercies  and  forgiveness,  though  we  have  rebelled  against  him  " — 
isn't  it  from  Daniel?'  So  as  brave  a  man  as  England  or  India  ever  saw  expired.  The 
soldiers  lifted  the  cover  from  his  face  and  kissed  him  before  they  carried  him  out.  The 
chaplain  offered  a  prayer.     Then  they  removed  the  great  hero  amid  the  rattling  hail  of  the 


264 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


guns  and  put  hiin  down  anions^'  other  soldiers  buried  at  the  same  time.  "  All  of  which  I 
state  for  the  Ijenefit  of  those  who  would  have  us  believe  that  the  Christian  religion  is  fit 
only  for  women  in  the  eighties  and  children  under  seven.  There  was  glor\-  enough  in  that 
departure  to  halo  Christendom. 

"There,"  said  our  escort,  "'Bob  the  Nailer'  did  the  work."  "Who  was  'Bob  the 
Nailer?  '  "  "  Oh,  he  was  the  African  who  sat  at  that  point,  and  when  an\'one  of  our  men 
ventured  across  the  road  he  would  drop  him  by  a  rifle  ball.  Bob  was  a  sure  marksman. 
The  only  way  to  get  across  the  road  for  water  from  the  well  was  to  wait  until  his  gun  flashed 
and  then  instantly  cross  before  he  had  time  to  load.  The  only  way  we  could  get  rid  of  him 
was  by  digging  a  mine  under  the  house  wdiere  he  was  hidden.  When  the  house  was  blown 
up  '  r>nb  the  .Vailcr'  went  with   it  "      1   said   to  him,  "  Had   ynn   made  up  your  minds  what 


I  \    nil    WW  SHU 


you  and  the  other  sufferers  would  do  in  case  the  fiends  actually  broke  in  ?  "  "  Oh,  yes," 
said  my  escort,  "  we  had  it  all  planned,  for  the  probability  was  every  hour  for  nearly  five 
months  that  they  would  break  in.  You  must  remember  it  was  1600  against  60,000,  and  for 
the  latter  part  of  the  time  it  was  900  against  60,000,  and  the  Residency  and  the  earthworks 
around  it  were  not  put  up  for  such  an  attack.  It  was  only  from  the  mercy  of  God 
that  we  were  not  massacred  soon  after  the  besiegement.  We  were  resolved  not  to  allow 
ourselves  to  get  into  the  hands  of  those  desperadoes.  You  must  remember  that  we  and  all  the 
women  had  heai'd  of  the  butchery  at  Cawnpore,  and  we  knew  what  defeat  meant.  If  unable 
to  hold  out  any  longer  we  would  have  blown  ourselves  up,  and  all  gone  out  of  life  together." 
"  Show  me,"  I  said,  "  the  rooms  wdiere  the  women  and  children  staid  during  those 
awful  months."     Then  we  crossed  over  and  went  down  into  the  cellar  of  the  Residency. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY, 


265 


With  a  shudder  of  horror  indescribable  I  entered  the  cellars  where  622  women  and  children 
had  been  crowded  until  the  whole  floor  was  full.  I  know  the  exact  number,  for  I  counted 
their  names  on  the  roll.  As  one  of  the  ladies  wrote  in  her  diary — speaking  of  these  women, 
she  said  :  "  They  lay  upon  the  floor  fitting  into  each  other  like  bits  in  a  puzzle."  Wives 
had  obtained  from  their  husbands  the  promise  that  the  liusbands  would  shoot  them  rather 
than  let  them  fall  into  the  hands  of  these  desperadoes.  The  women  within  the  Residency 
were  kept  on  the  smallest  allowance  that  would  maintain  life.  No  opportunity  of  privacy. 
The  death-angel  and  the  birth-angel  touched  wings  as  they  passed.  Flies,  mosquitoes,  ver- 
min in  full  posses- 
sion of  the  place, 
and  these  women  in 
momentary  expecta- 
tion that  the  en- 
raged savages  would 
rush  upon  them,  in 
a  violence  of  which 
club,  and  sword,  and 
torch,  and  throat- 
ctitting  would  be 
the  milder  forms. 

Our  escort  told 
us  again  and  again 
of  the  bravery  of 
these  women.  They 
did  not  despair. 
They  encouraged 
the  soldiery.  They 
waited  on  the 
wounded  and  dying 
in  the  ■  hospital. 
They  gave  up  their 
stockings  for  hold- 
ers of  the  grape- 
shot.  They  solaced 
each  other  when 
their  children  died. 
When  a  husband  or 
father  fell  such 
prayers  of  sympathj- 

were  offered  as  only  women  can  offer.  They  endured  without  complaint.  They  prepared 
their  own  children  for  burial.  They  were  inspiration  for  the  men  who  stood  at  their  posts 
fighting  until  they  dropped. 

Our  escort  told  us  that  again  and  again  news  had  come  that  Havelock  and  Outram  were 
on  the  wav  to  fetch  these  besieged  ones  out  of  their  wretchedness.  They  had  received  a 
letter  from  Havelock  rolled  up  in  a  quill  and  carried  in  the  mouth  of  a  disguised  messenger, 
telling  them  he  was  on  the  way,  but  the  next  news  was  that  Havelock  had  been  compelled 
to  retreat.     It  was  constant  vacillation  between  hope  and  despair.     But  one  day  they  heard 


HINDOO    PRIEST   AT   HIS   HKVOTIOXS. 


266  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

the  guns  of  relief  sounding  nearer  and  nearer.  Yet  all  the  houses  of  Lucknow  were 
fortresses  filled  with  armed  miscreants,  and  every  step  of  Havelock  and  his  army  was  con- 
tested,— firing  from  housetops  ;  firing  from  windows  ;  firing  from  doorways. 

I  asked  our  friend  if  he  thought  that  the  world-famous  story  of  a  Scotch  lass  in  her 
delirium  hearing  the  Scotch  bagpipes  advancing  with  the  Scotch  regiment,  was  a  true  story. 
He  said  he  did  not  know  but  that  it  was  true.  Without  this  man's  telling  me  I  knew  from 
my  own  observation  that  delirium  sometimes  quickens  some  of  the  faculties,  and  I  rather 
think  the  Scotch  lass  in  her  delirium  was  the  first  to  hear  the  bagpipes.  I  decline  to  believe 
that  class  of  people  who  would  like  to  kill  all  the  poetry  of  the  world  and  banish  all  the 
fine  sentiment.  They  tell  us  that  Whittier's  poem  about  Barbara  Freitchie  was  founded  on 
a  delusion,  and  that  L,ongfellow's  poems  immortalized  things  that  never  occurred.  The 
Scotch  lass  did  hear  the  slogan.  I  almost  heard  it  myself  as  I  stood  inside  the  Residency 
while  m}'  escort  told  of  the  coming  on  of  the  Seventy-eighth  Highland  Regiment.  "  Were 
you  present  when  Havelock  came  in?"  Tasked,  for  I  could  suppress  the  question  no  longer. 
His  answer  came  :  "  I  was  not  at  the  moment  present,  but  with  some  other  young  fellows  I 
saw  soldiers  dancing  while  two  Highland  pipers  played,  and  I  said,  '  WHiat  is  all  this  excite- 
ment about?  '  Then  we  came  up  and  saw  that  Havelock  was  in,  and  Outram  was  in,  and 
the  regiments  were  pouring  in." 

"  Show  ns  where  they  came  in  !  "  I  exxlaimed,  for  I  knew  that  they  did  not  enter 
through  the  gate  of  the  Residency,  that  being  banked  up  inside  to  keep  the  murderers  out. 
"  Here  it  is,"  answered  my  escort.     "  Here  it  is — the  embrasure  through  which  they  came." 

We  walked  up  to  the  spot.  It  is  now  a  broken-down  pile  of  bricks  a  dozen  yards  from 
the  gate.      Long  grass  now,  but  then  a  blood-spattered,  bullet-scarred  opening  in  the  wall. 

As  we  stood  there,  although  the  scene  was  thirty-seven  years  ago,  I  saw  them  come  in  ; 
Havelock,  pale  and  sick,  but  triumphant;  and  Outram,  whom  all  the  equestrian  statues  in 
Calcutta  and  Europe  cannot  too  grandh-  present. 

"What  then  happened?"  I  said  to  my  escort.  "  Oh,"  he  said,  "  that  is  impossible  to 
tell.  The  earth  was  removed  from  the  gate  and  soon  all  the  arm\'  of  relief  entered,  and 
some  of  us  laughed,  and  some  cried,  and  some  prayed,  and  some  danced.  Highlanders  so 
dust-covered  and  enough  blood  and  wounds  on  their  faces  to  make  them  unrecognizable, 
snatched  the  babes  out  of  their  mothers'  arms  and  kissed  them,  and  passed  the  babies  along 
for  other  soldiers  to  kiss,  and  the  w'ounded  men  crawled  out  of  the  hospital  to  join  in  tlie 
cheering,  and  it  was  wild  jubilee,  until,  the  first  excitement  passed,  the  story  of  how  many 
of  the  advancing  army  had  been  slain  on  the  way  began  to  have  tearful  effect,  and  the  story 
of  suffering  that  had  been  endured  inside  the  fort,  and  the  announcement  to  children  tliat 
they  were  fatherless,  and  to  wives  that  they  were  widows,  submerged  the  shouts  of  joy  with 
wailing  of  agony." 

"  But  were  \-ou  not  embarrassed  by  the  arrival  of  Havelock  and  1400  men  who  brought 
no  food  with  them  ?  "  He  answered,  "  Of  course,  we  were  put  on  smaller  rations  innnedi- 
ately  in  order  that  thev  might  share  with  us,  but  we  knew  that  the  coming  of  this  reinforce- 
meirt  would  help  us  to  hold  the  place  until  further  relief  should  come.  Had  not  this  first 
relief  arrived  as  it  did,  in  a  day  or  two  at  most,  and  perhaps  in  any  hour,  the  besiegers 
would  have  broken  in,  and  our  end  would  have  come.  The  Sepoys  had  dug  six  mines 
under  the  Residency  and  would  soon  have  exploded  all." 

After  we  had  obtained  a  few  bullets  that  had  been  picked  out  of  the  wall,  and  a  piece 
of  a  bomb-shell,  we  walked  around  the  eloquent  ruins,  and  put  our  hands  into  the  scars  of 
the  shattered  masonry,  and   explored  the   cemetery  inside  the  fort,  where  hundreds  of  the 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


^67 


dead  soldiers  await  the  coming  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  at  the  Last  Day,  and  we  could  endure 
no  more.  My  nerves  were  all  a-trenible,  and  my  emotions  were  wrung  out,  and  I  said, 
"  Let  us  go."  I  had  seen  the  Residency  at  Lucknow  the  day  before  with  a  beloved  mission- 
arv,  and  he  told  me  man\-  interesting  facts  concerning  the  besiegement  of  that  place,  but 
this  morning  I  had  seen  it  in  company  with  one  who  in  tliat  awful  1857  of  the  Indian 
.Mutinv  with  his  own  fire  had  fought  the  besiegers,  and  with  his  own  ears  had  heard  the  Nell 
of  the  miscreants  as  they  tried  to  storm  the  walls,  and  with  his  own  eyes  had  witnessed  a 
scene  of  pang,  and  sacrifice,  and  endurance,  and  bereavement,  and  prowess  and  rescue 
which  has  made  all  this  Lucknow  fortress  and  its  surroundings  the  Mount  Calvary  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 


NEPALESE   GENERALS   AND   CHINESE    EMBASSY. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


ANOTHER  WOE   IS   PAST. 


•^ — •  E  who  visits  the  Residency  in  this  city  and  then  departs  has  not  seen  Lncknow, 
1/'"^^  nor  learned  more  than  half  of  its  Iliad  of  woes.  Havelock  and  Outrani  went  into 
I  W  the  Residency  September  21,  bnt  it  was  not  nntil  the  morrow  that  the  wounded 
^^-  v»  of  their  army  started  to  make  entrance.  There  were  a  host  of  broken  arms,  and 
amputated  limbs,  and  fractured  jaws  in  Havelock's  army  to  be  looked  after.  Forty  doolies, 
or  litters,  containing  as  many  officers  were  being  carried.  The  order  was  given  that  some 
one  who  knew  the  locality  well  should  lead  the  mutilated  and  groaning  procession.  A  Mr. 
Thornhill  thought  he  knew,  and  offered  his  service,  but  he  made  a  mistake,  and,  instead  of 
leading  the  hospital  procession  where  it  would  be  comparatively  safe,  he  led  it  into  the  very 
jaws  of  destruction.  The  men  who  carried  the  doolies  were  themselves  wounded  or  fright- 
ened, and  dropped  their  burden  and  fled,  and  the  Sepoys  came  in  with  bayonets,  and  knives, 
and  clubs  and  cut,  and  stabbed,  and  dashed  to  death  the  helpless  European  soldiers,  save  the 

man  in  the  front  dooly,  who  was  rushed  through  in 
safety.  He  was  Lieutenant  Havelock,  the  son  of  the 
great  commander.  These  viounded  men  begged  their 
comrades  to  shoot  them  before  they  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Sepoys.  Some  of  the  guard  who  were  taking  these  men 
to  the  Residency  performed  deeds  of  daring  such  as  have 
not  been  eclipsed  in  any  war  since  the  first  sword  was 
brandished.  Three  or  four  men  in  a  I'oom  would  keep 
at  bay  hour  after  hour  as  many  hundred  Sepoys.  It  was 
all  the  way  a  track  of  blood  and  a  burst  of  intrepidity. 

We  pass  along  this  road  of  immortal  achievements 
and  come  to  the  place  where  Havelock  died,  after  attempt- 
ing to  do  what  no  one  else  ever  tried  to  do,  and  accom- 
plishing it,  namely,  with  1400  men  fighting  his  way 
through  100,000  infuriated  brutes.  It  was  too  much  for 
his  physical  endurance,  after  all  that  he  had  gone  through 
in  his  experience  of  many  wars,  and  the  hero  lay  dying  in 
a  tent,  his  wounded  son  reading  to  him  the  consolatory 
Scriptures.  The  telegraph  wires  told  all  nations  that  Havelock  was  dying.  He  had  received 
a  message  of  congratulation  from  the  Queen,  and  had  been  knighted,  and  such  a  reception 
as  England  never  gave  to  any  man  since  Wellington  came  back  from  Waterloo,  awaited  his 
return.  But  he  will  never  again  see  his  native  land.  He  has  led  on  his  last  army,  and 
planned  his  last  battle,  but  he  is  to  gain  another  victory.  He  declared  it  when  in  his  last 
hours  he  said  to  General  Outram,  "  I  die  happy  and  contented.  I  have  for  forty  years  so 
ruled  my  life  that  when  death  came  I  might  face  it  without  fear.  '  To  die  is  gain.'  "  He 
said  to  his  .sons,  "  My  sons,  see  how  a  Christian  can  die."     Indeed,  this  was  no  new  sentiment 

(268) 


SIR   HENRV   H.WELOCK. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


269 


with  liiui.  He  once  stated  that  in  bo\  hood  with  four  companions  he  was  accustomed 
to  seek  the  sechision  of  one  of  the  dormitories  for  purposes  of  devotion,  though  certain  in 
this  of  being  branded  as  Methodists  and  canting  hypocrites.  He  had  been  immersed  in  a 
Baptist  church.  He  acknowledged  God  in  every  victory,  and  says  in  one  of  his  dispatches 
that  he  owes  it  "  to  the  power  of  tlie  Enfield  rifle  in  British  hands,  to  British  pluck,  and  to 
the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  on  a  most  righteous  cause."  He  was  accustomed  when  on 
the  march  to  take  two  hours  for  pra\er  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures  every  morning.  If  he 
started  at  si.x  o'clock,  he  rose  at  four ;  if  he  started  at  seven,  he  rose  at  five  for  his  devotions. 


THE  VICEROY'S  ELEPHANTS. 


Tlie  India  Home  Government  is  vested  in  a  Secretary  of  State,  who  is  a  member  of  the  English  Cabinet,  but  the  executive 
liiiwer  resides  in  a  Viceroy,  or  Governor-General,  appointed  by  the  Crown,  acting  Under  Secretary,  whose  term  is  six  years.  He 
m.iintains  a  court  of  no  little  magnificence,  one  of  his  allowances  being  a  herd  of  elephants,  which  is  used  on  state  occasions,  at 
iVhich  time  they  appear  in  very  rich  caparisons,  as  shown  in  the  photograph. 

We  rode  out  to  see  his  grave,  about  three  miles  from  Lucknow.  A  jjlain  monument 
marks  the  place,  but  the  epitaph  is  as  beautiful  and  comprehensive  as  anything  I  have  ever 
seen,  and  I  copied  it  then  and  there.      It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Here  rests  the  mortal  remains  of  Henry  Havelock,"Major-General  in  the  British  Armv, 
and  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath,  who  died  at  Dilkhoosha,  Lucknow,  of  dysentery,  pro- 
duced by  the  hardships  of  a  campaign  in  which  he  achieved  an  immortal  fame,  on  the  24th 
of  November,  1857.  He  was  born  on  the  5th  of  April,  1795,  at  Bishopwearmouth,  County 
Durham,  England.  Entered  the  army  1815.  Came  to  India  1823,  and  served  there  with 
little  interruption  till   his  death.     He  bore  an   honorable  part   in  the   wars  of  Burmah, 


270  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

Afghanistan,  tlie  .Mahratta  campaign  of  1.S43,  and  the  Sntleg  of  1845-6.  Retarded  by 
adverse  circnnistances  in  a  subordinate  position,  it  was  the  aim  of  his  life  to  show 
that  the  profession  of  a  Christian  is  consistent  with  the  fullest  discharge  of  the  duties  of  a 
soldier. 

"  He  commanded  a  division  in  the  Persian  expedition  of  1S57.  In  the  terrible  convulsion 
of  tliat  year  his  genius  and  character  were  at  length  fully  developed  and  known  to  the  world. 
Saved  from  shipwreck  on  the  Ceylon  coast  by  that  Providence  which  designed  him  for 
greater  things,  he  was  nominated  to  be  the  Commander  of  the  column  destined  to  relieve 
the  brave  garrison  of  Lucknow.  This  object,  after  almost  superhuman  exertion,  he  by  the 
blessing  of  God  accomplished.  But  he  was  not  spared  to  receive  on  earth  the  reward  so 
truly  earned.  The  Divine  Master  whom  he  served  saw  fit  to  remove  him  from  the  sphere 
of  his  labor  in  the  moment  of  his  greatest  triumph.  He  departed  to  his  rest  in  humble  but 
confident  expectation  of  far  greater  rewards  and  honors  which  a  grateful  country  was 
anxious  to  bestow.  In  him  the  skill  of  a  commander,  the  courage  and  devotion  of  a  soldier, 
the  learning  of  a  scholar,  the  grace  of  a  highly  bred  gentleman,  and  all  the  social  and 
domestic  virtues  of  a  husband,  father  and  friend  were  blended  together  and  strengthened, 
harmonized  and  adorned  by  the  spirit  of  a  true  Christian,  the  result  of  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  his  heart,  and  of  a  humble  reliance  on  the  merits  of  a  crucified  Saviour. 
2  Timothy  iv.  7th  and  8th  \erses  :  '  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  1  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  iaith  :  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness, 
which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day  :  and  not  to  me  only,  but 
unto  all  them  also  that  love  his  appearing.'  This  monument  is  erected  by  his  sorrowing 
widow  and  family." 

But  I  said  to-da}-,  while  standing  at  Havelock's  grave,  "  \Vh\-  does  not  England  take 
his  dust  to  herself,  and  in  Westminster  Abbey  make  him  a  pillow?  "  In  all  her  history  of 
wars  there  is  no  name  more  magnetic,  yet  she  has  expressed  nothing  on  this  man's  tomb. 
His  widow  reared  this  monument.  Do  you  say,  "  Let  him  sleep  in  the  region  where  he 
did  his  pluckiest  deeds?"  The  same  reason  would  have  buried  Wellington  in  Belgimn,  and 
Von  Moltke  at  Versailles,  and  Grant  at  Vicksburg,  and  Stonewall  Jack.son  far  away  from  his 
beloved  Lexington,  \'irginia.  Take  him  home  to  England — the  rescuer  of  the  men,  women 
and  children  of  Lucknow.  Though  his  ear  now  dulled  could  not  hear  the  roll  of  the  organ 
when  it  sounds  through  the  \-enerable  Abbey  the  national  anthem,  it  would  hear  the  .same 
trumpet  that  brings  tip  from  among  those  sacred  walls  the  form  of  Outram,  his  fellow-hero 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  Indian  mutiny.  Let  Parliament  make  appropriation  from  the 
National  Treasury,  and  some  great  warship,  under  some  fa\'orite  admiral,  sail  across  the 
Mediterranean  and  Arabian  seas,  and  wait  at  Bomba\-  harbor  for  the  coming  of  the  dust  of 
this  conqueror  of  conquerors,  and  then  let  it  be  saluted  by  the  shipping  of  all  free  nations. 
Let  him  come  under  the  arches  and  along  the  aisles  where  have  been  carried  the  mightiest 
dead  of  many  centuries.  W!:at  a  speech  that  was  which  Havelock  made  to  his  soldiers  as  he 
started  for  Cawnpore  :  "  Over  two  hundred  of  our  friends  are  still  alive  in  Cawnpore.  With 
God's  help  we  will  save  them.  I  am  tr\ing  you  severeh-,  my  men,  but  I  know  what  you 
are  made  of."  "  Hands  up  for  Lucknow  !  "  cried  Havelock  to  his  soldiers.  Then  he  said, 
"  It  is  too  dark  for  me  to  see  your  hands."  Then  the  soldiers  gave  a  cheer,  and  he  replied, 
"  .\h,  you  are  what  I  thought  von  were,  Britons!"  The  enthusiasm  of  his  men  was  well 
suggested  by  the  soldier  who  had  been  lying  asleep,  and,  Havelock  riding  along,  his  horse 
stumbled  on  the  soldier  and  awoke  him,  and  the  soldier  recognizing  him,  cried  out  cheerily  : 
"  Make  room  for  the  General  !     God  bless  the  General." 


THE    WORLD    AS    SEEN    TO-DAY. 


271 


Before  1  go  back  to  the  Liickiiow  hotel  to-day  we  must  take  a  ride  of  about  four  miles 
and  see  the  summer  garden  called  Secuuder  Bagh,  the  place  where  the  Hindoo  and  Moham- 
medan wretches  made  a  stand  against  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  who  was  coming  for  the  second 
relief  of  Lucknow,  for  the  relief  of  Havelock  and  Outram,  as  well  as  the  imprisoned 
garrison.  Two  thousand  of  the  Indians  were  enclosed  within  the  garden,  with  a  wall  some 
twenty  feet  high.  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  after  his  men  had  made  an  opening  in  the  wall,  said, 
"  Do  \ou  think  tliat  opening  is  large  enough  ?  "  and  a  private  by  the  name  of  Lee,  the  very 
man  who  was  telling  me  about  it,  his  sa\ing  having  gone  into  the  records,  cried  out:  "Sir 
Colin,  let  us  charge  upon  them,  and  if  the  hole  in  the  wall  is  not  large  enough,  we  will 
make  it  large  enough  with  our  bayonets."  And  Sir  Colin  commanded,  "  Charge  !  "  The 
Europeans  made  the  charge  and  the  two  thousand  fiends  were  then  and  there  put  to  death. 
With  a  revolving  pistol  one  Englishman  shot  ten  Sepo^'s.  The  scoundrels,  finding  they 
were  surrounded,  threw  away  their  arms,  and,  lifting  their  hands,  pra>ed  for  mercy.  Those 
attempting  to  escape  \vere  overtaken  and  slain. 

I  have  heard  Sir  Colin  and  his  men  severely  criticised  for  this  wholesale  slaughter, 
and  I  have  heard  others  praise  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  that  that  awful  annihilation  broke  the  back  of  the 
mutiny.  The  Lidiaus  found  that  the  Europeans  could  play 
at  the  same  game  of  slaughter  which  the  Asiatics  had  started. 
The  plot  was  organized  for  the  murder  of  all  the  Europeans 
in  India.  The  work  had  been  begun  in  all  directions  on  an 
appalling  scale,  and  the  commanders  of  the  English  anny 
made  up  their  minds  that  this  was  the  best  way  to  stop  it. 
The  fact  is,  that  war,  in  all  circumstances,  is  barbarism.  It 
is  murder  nationalized.  Woe  be  to  those  who  start  it  I  A 
mild  and  gentle  war  with  the  Sepoys  was  most  certainly  an 
impossibility.  The  natives  of  India  are  cruel  and  bloodthirsty. 
They  ever  and  anon  demonstrate  it.  The  Black  Hole  of 
Calcutta  was  only  the  natural  predecessor  of  Lucknow  atroci- 
ties. I  stood  a  few  days  ago  on  the  very  spot  in  Calcutta 
where  the  natives  of  India  in  1756  enacted  that  scen^ 
which  no  other  people  on  earth  could  have  enacted.  The 
Black  Hole  prison  has  been  torn  down,  but  a  stone  pave- 
ment, twenty  feet  by  twenty,  indicates  the  ground  covered  by  the  prison.  The  building 
had  two  small  windows  and  was  intended  for  two  or  three  persons.  These  natives  of  India 
crowded  into  that  one  room  of  twent\'  feet  b\'  twent>'  feet,  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
Europeans.  The  midsummer  heat,  the  stench,  the  suffocation,  the  trampling  of  one  upon 
another,  the  going  insane  by  some,  the  groaning,  and  shrieking,  and  begging,  and  praying  of 
all,  are  matters  of  historv.  The  Sepovs  in  the  meanwhile  held  lights  to  the  small  windows 
and  mocked  the  sufferers.  Then  all  the  sounds  ceased.  That  night  of  June  20,  1756,  passed, 
and  one  Inmdred  and  twenty-three  corpses  were  taken  out.  C^nly  twent\-three  people  out 
of  the  one  hundred  and  forty-six  were  alive,  and  they  had  to  be  pulled  out  from  under  the 
corpses.  IVIrs.  Carey,  who  .survived,  was  taken  b\-  an  Indian  nabob  into  his  harem  and  kept 
a  prisoner  for  si.x  years.  Lucknow  in  1857  was  only  an  echo  of  Calcutta  in  1756.  During 
the  mutinv  c-f  which  I  have  been  writing,  natives  who  had  been  in  the  service  of  Europeans, 
and  well  treated  by  them,  and  with  no  cause  of  offence,  would,  at  the  call  of  the  mutineers,  and 
without  compunction,  stab  to  death  the  father  and  mother  of  the  household  and  dash  out  the 


SIK    COLIN    C.\MPBELI-. 


272 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


brains  of  the  children.  This  cruelty  is  a  natural  result  of  cruel  customs  for  centuries.  The 
throwing  of  children  to  the  crocodiles  in  the  Ganges,  the  leaping  of  widows  on  the  funeral  pyre 
of  husbands  (this  coming  from  the  fact  that  widows  were  supposed  in  many  cases  to  liav^e 
poisoned  their  husbands,  and  hence  to  lessen  that  evil  the  funeral  pyre  upon  which  the  woman 
must  by  custom  burn  would  be  a  hindrance  to  her  commission  of  the  crime),  the  swinging 
of  devotees  on  iron  hooks,  the  self-tortures  of  the  Fakirs,  the  rolling  of  the  gory  Juggernaut 
over  its  victims,  the  brutal  treatment  of  females,  among  other  things  allowing  the  husband, 
if  he  had  not  a  male  descendant,  to  cast  off  one  wife  and  take  another  ;  and  the  law  of 
caste,  which  is  a  cast-iron  law — all  these  things  going  on  for  thousands  of  years  have  made 
the  native  population  of  India  so  unfeeling  and  hard,  that  nothing  can  be  harder.     That 


A  HTTJDOO  GIRLS'  SCHOOI,. 
Natives  of  India  are  not  so  besotted  with  fanaticism  as  they  were  fifty  years  ago,  and  their  progress  is  very  rapid.  Education 
of  the  people  may  be  said  to  have  really  begun  in  1.S54,  when  Sir  Charles  Wood  established  a  system  which  required  a  diffusiou 
of  European  knowledge  through  the  languages  understood  by  the  masses.  Normal  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers  have 
been  established,  aud  great  atteution  is  now  being  paid  to  the  education  of  females,  which  was  whol.y  neglected  before,  though 
fullest  toleration  in  matters  of  faith  is  enjoyed. 

any  of  these  fires  have  been  extinguished,  or  any  of  these  knives  dulled,  or  any  of  these 
wheels  halted,  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  accession  of  kindness  in  the  hearts  of  these 
natives  ;  but,  under  God,  to  the  English  Government.  These  natives  are  at  peace  now,  but 
give  them  a  chance  and  they  will  re-enact  the  scenes  of  1756  and  1857.  They  look  upon 
the  English  as  conquerors  and  themselves  as  conquered.  The  mutiny  of  1857  occurred 
because  the  Briti.sh  Government  was  too  lenient,  aud  put  in  places  of  trust  and  in  command 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


^73 


of  forts  too  many  of  the  nati\-es.  I  call  upon  England  to  stop  the  present  attempt  to  pla- 
cate the  natives  by  allowing  them  to  command  forts  and  hold  authority.  Just  as  certainly 
as  it  is  continued  there  will  be  more  trouble.  I  am  no  alarmist,  but  the  only  way  that  these 
Asiatics  can  be  kept  from  another  mutiny  is  to  put  them  out  of  power.  Unless  the  policy 
of  the  British  Government  in  India  is  changed,  the  Lucknow,  and  Cawnpore,  and  Delhi 
martyrdoms,  over  which  the  hemispheres  have  wept,  will  be  eclipsed  by  the  Lucknow,  and 
Cawnpore,  and  Delhi  martydoms  yet  to  be  enacted. 

I  speak  from  w-hat  I  have  seen  and  heard.  I  give  the  opinion  of  even*-  intelligent  Eng- 
lishman, and  Irishman,  and  Scotchman,  and  American  I  have  met  in  India.  Prevention  is 
better  than  cure.  I  do  not  say  it  is  better  that  England  rule  India.  I  say  nothing  against 
the  right  of  India  to  rule  herself.  But  I  do  say  that  the  moment  the  native  population  of 
this  land  think  there  is  a  possibility  of  driving  back  Europeans  from  India,  they  will 
make  the  attempt,  and  that  they  have  enough  cruelties  for  the  time  suppressed  which,  if  let 
loose,  would  submerge  with  carnage  everything  from  Calcutta  to  Bombay,  and  from  the 
Himalayas  to  the  coast  of  Coromandel. 

* 
When  I  arrived  in  London  on  my  return  homeward.  General  Sir  Henr\-  M.  Havelock,  the 
son  of  the  Lucknow  commander,  invited  me  to  meet  at  a  banquet  at  the  United  Service 
Club,  the  three  greatest  of  the  remaining  heroes  of  the  war  in  India,  General  Dodgson, 
General  Sir  William  Olpherts  and  General  Sir  McLeod  Innes.  What  a  time  of  reminis- 
cence it  was  to  hear  those  four  heroes  talk  over  the  incidents  of  the  bloodiest  struggle  in  all 
histor\- !  Sir  Henr\'  Havelock  said  to  me  :  "  My  father  knew  not  what  fear  was.  He 
would  say  to  me  as  he  came  out  of  his  tent  in  the  morning  :  '  Harry,  have  }ou  read  the 
Book?'  'Yes.'  '  Have  you  said  \"our  pravers  ?'  'Yes.'  '  Have  you  had  your  breakfast  ?  ' 
'  Yes.'     '  Come,  then,  and  let  us  mount,  and  go  out  to  be  shot  at,  and  die  like  gentlemen.  '  " 


HINDOOS  TELLING   THEIR    Bl'ADS. 


I8 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CITY  OF   BLOOD. 

OWO  hours  and  ten  minutes  after  its  occurrence,  Joseph  Lee,  of  the  Shropshire 
Regiment  of  Foot,  rode  in  upon  the  Cawnpore  massacre.  I  wanted  to  hear  the 
story  from  some  one  who  had  been  there  in  1857,  and  with  his  own  eyes  gazed 
upon  the  slaughtered  heaps  of  humanit}-.  I  could  hardly  wait  until  the  horses 
were  put  to  the  carriage,  and  Mr.  Lee,  seated  with  us,  started  for  the  scene,  the  storj-  of 
which  makes  tame  in  contrast  all  Modoc  and  Choctaw  butcheries. 

It  seems  that  all  the  worst  passions  of  the  century  were  to  be  impersonated  by  one  man, 
and  he,  Nana  Sahib,  and  our  escort  at  Cawnpore,  Joseph  Lee,  knew  the  man  personally. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  no  correct  picture  of  Xana  Sahib  in  existence.  The  pictures  of  him 
published  in  the  books  of  Europe  and  America,  and  familiar  to  us  all,  are  an  amusing 
mistake.  This  is  the  fact  in  regard  to  them  :  A  lawyer  of  England  was  called  to  India 
for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  case  of  a  native  who  had  been  charged  with  fraud.  The 
attorney  came  and  so  skillfully  managed  the  case  of  his  client  that  the  client  paid  him 
enormously  for  his  services,  and  he  went  back  to  England,  taking  with  him  a  picture  of  his 
Indian  client.  After  a  while  the  mutiny  in  India  broke  out,  and  Xana  Sahib  was  mentioned 
as  the  champion  villain  of  the  wdiole  affair,  and  the  newspapers  of  England  wanted  a  pic- 
ture of  him,  and  to  interview  some  one  on  Indian  affairs  who  had  recently  been  in  India. 
Among  others,  the  journalists  called  upon  this  lawyer,  recently  returned.  The  only  picture 
he  had  brought  from  India  was  a  picture  of  his  client,  the  man  charged  with  fraud.  The 
attorney  gave  this  picture  to  the  journalists  as  a  specimen  of  the  way  the  Hindoos  dress,  and 
forthwith  that  picture  was  used,  either  by  mistake  or  intentionally,  for  Nana  Sahib.  The 
English  lawyer  said  that  he  li\-ed  in  dread  that  his  client  would  some  da\'  see  the  use  made 
of  his  picture,  and  it  was  not  until  the  death  of  his  Hindoo  client  that  the  lawyer  divulged 
the  facts.  Perhaps  it  was  never  intended  that  the  face  of  such  a  demon  should  be  preserved 
among  human  records.  I  said  to  our  escort :  "  Mr.  Lee,  was  there  any  peculiarity  in  Nana 
Sahib's  appearance?"  The  reply  was:  "Nothing  very  peculiar;  he  was  a  dull,  lazy, 
cowardly,  sensual  man,  brought  up  to  do  nothing,  and  wanted  to  continue  on  the  same  scale 
to  do  nothing."  From  what  Mr.  Lee  told  me,  and  from  all  I  could  learn  in  India,  Nana 
Sahib  ordered  the  massacre  in  that  city  from  sheer  re\-enge.  His  father  abdicated  the 
throne,  and  the  English  paid  him  aniuialh-  a  pension  of  $400,000.  When  the  father  died 
the  English  Government  declined  to  pay  the  same  pension  to  the  son,  Nana  Sahib,  but  the 
poor  fellow  was  not  in  any  suffering  from  lack  of  funds.  His  father  left  him  $80,000  in 
gold  ornaments  ;  $500,000  in  jewels  ;  $800,000  in  bonds,  and  otlier  resources  amounting  to 
at  least  $1,500,000.  But  the  poor  \oung  man  was  not  satisfied,  and  the  Cawnpore  massacre 
was  his  revenge.  General  Wheeler,  the  Englishman  who  had  connnand  of  this  cit\', 
although  often  warned,  could  not  see  that  the  Sepoys  were  planning  for  his  destruction  and 
that  of  all  his  regiments  and  all  the  Europeans  in  Cawnpore. 

(274) 


NANA    SAHIB 


(275) 


276  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

Mr.  Lee  explained  all  this  to  me  by  the  fact  that  General  Wheeler  had  married  a  native, 
and  he  naturally  took  her  story  and  thought  there  was  no  peril.  But  the  time  for  the  proc- 
lamation of  Nana  Sahib  had  come,  and  such  a  document  went  forth  as  never  before  had 
seen  the  light  of  day.     I  give  only  an  extract : 

"  As  by  the  kindness  of  God  and  the  good  fortune  of  the  Emperor,  all  the  Christians 
who  were  at  Delhi,  Poonah,  Sattara,  and  other  places,  and  even  those  5000  European 
soldiers  who  went  in  disguise  into  the  former  city  and  were  discovered  and  sent  to  hell  by 
the  pious  and  sagacious  troops,  who  are  firm  to  their  religion,  and  as  they  have  all  been 
conquered  by  the  present  government,  and  as  no  trace  of  them  is  left  in  these  places,  it  is  the 
dut\-  of  all  the  subjects  and  servants  of  the  government  to  rejoice  at  the  delightful  intelligence 
and  carry  on  their  respective  work  with  comfort  and  ease.  As  by  the  bounty  of  the  glorious 
Almighty  and  the  enemy-destroying  fortune  of  the  Emperor,  the  yellow-faced  and  narrow- 
minded  people  have  been  sent  to  hell,  and  Cawnpore  has  been  conquered,  it  is  necessary  that 
all  the  subjects  and  land-owners,  and  government  servants  should  be  as  obedient  to  the 
present  government  as  they  have  been  to  the  former  one  ;  that  it  is  the  incumbent  duty  of  all 
the  peasants  and  landed  proprietors  of  every  district  to  rejoice  at  the  thought  that  the  Chris- 
tians have  been  sent  to  hell,  and  both  the  Hindoo  and  Mohammedan  religions  have  been 
confirmed,  and  that  they  should,  as  usual,  be  obedient  to  the  authorities  of  the  government, 
and  never  suffer  any  complaint  against  themselves  to  reach  the  ears  of  the  higher  authorit>-." 

"  Mr.  Lee,  what  is  this  ?  "  I  said  to  our  escort  as  the  carriage  halted  by  an  embankment. 
"  Here,"  he  said,  "  is  the  intrenchment  where  the  Christians  of  Cawnpore  took  refuge."  It 
is  the  remains  of  a  wall  which,  at  the  time  of  the  mutiny,  was  only  four  feet  high,  behind 
which,  with  no  shelter  from  the  sun,  the  heat  at  130  degrees,  four  hundred  and  forty  men 
and  five  hundred  and  sixty  women  and  children  dwelt  nearly  a  month.  A  handful  of  flour 
and  split  peas  was  the  daily  ration,  and  only  two  wells  nearby,  the  one  in  which  they 
buried  their  dead,  because  they  had  no  time  to  bury  them  in  the  earth,  and  the  other  well, 
the  focus  on  which  the  artillery  of  the  enemy  played,  so  that  it  was  a  choice  between  death 
by  thirst  and  death  by  bullet  or  shell.  Ten  thousand  yelling  Hindoos  outside  this  frail  wall, 
and  1000  suffering,  dying  people  inside.  In  addition  to  the  army  of  the  Hindoos  and 
Moslems,  an  invisible  army  of  sickness  swooped  upon  them.  Some  went  raving  mad  under 
exposure;  others  dropped  under  apoplexy.  A  starving,  mutilated,  fevered,  sunstruck, 
ghastly  group,  waiting  to  die.  Why  did  not  the  heathen  dash  down  those  mud  walls  and  the 
10,000  annihilate  the  now  less  than  1000?  It  was  because  they  seemed  supernaturally 
defended." 

Nana  Sahib  resolved  to  celebrate  an  anniversary.  The  twenty-third  of  June,  1857,  would 
be  one  hundred  years  since  the  battle  of  Plassy,  when,  under  Lord  Clive,  India  surrendered  to 
England.  That  day  the  last  European  in  Cawnpore  was  to  be  slaughtered.  Other  anni- 
versaries have  been  celebrated  with  wine,  this  was  to  be  celebrated  with  blood.  Other  anni- 
versaries have  been  adorned  with  garlands ;  this  with  drawn  swords.  Others  have  been 
kept  with  songs  ;  this  with  execrations.  Others  with  the  dance  of  the  gay  ;  this  with  the 
dance  of  death.  The  infantry  and  cavalry  and  artillery  of  Nana  Sahib  made  on  that  day  one 
grand  assault,  but  the  few  guns  of  the  English  and  Scotch  put  to  flight  these  Hindoo  tigers. 
The  courage  of  fiends  broke  against  that  mud  wall  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  against  a  light- 
house. The  cavalry  horses  returned  full  run,  without  their  riders.  The  Lord  looked  out 
from  the  heavens,  and  on  that  anniversary  day  gave  the  victory  to  his  people. 

Therefore  Nana  Sahib  must  try  some  other  plan.  Standing  in  a  field  nor  far  from  the 
intrenchment  of  the  English  was  a  native  Christian  woman,  Jacobee  by  name,  holding  high 


(277) 


278  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

up  in  her  hand  a  letter.  It  was  evidently  a  cunnnnnicalion  from  the  eneni}-,  and  General 
Wheeler  ordered  the  woman  bronght  in.  She  handed  him  a  proposed  treatv.  If  General 
Wheeler  and  his  men  wonld  give  tip  their  weapons,  Nana  Sahib  wonld  condnct  them  into 
safety  ;  they  could  march  ont  unmolested,  the  men,  women,  and  children  ;  they  could  go 
down  to-morrow  to  the  Ganges,  v.diere  they  would  find  boats  to  take  them  in  peace  to 
Allahabad. 

There  was  some  opposition  to  signing  this  treaty,  but  {General  Wheeler's  wife  told  him 
he  could  trust  the  natives  and  so  he  signed  the  treat^■.  There  was  great  joy  in  the  intrench- 
ment  that  night.  Without  molestation  they  went  out  and  got  plenty  of  water  to  drink,  and 
water  for  a  good  wash.  The  hunger  and  thirst  and  exposure  from  the  consmning  sun,  with 
the  thermometer  from  120  to  140,  would  cease.  Mothers  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  saving 
their  children.  The  young  ladies  of  the  intrenchment  would  escape  the  wild  beasts  in 
human  form.  On  the  morrow,  true  to  the  promise,  carts  were  read}'  to  transport  those  who 
were  too  much  exhausted  to  walk. 

"Get  in  the  carriage,"  said  Mr.  Lee,  "and  we  will  ride  to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
for  which  the  liberated  combatants  and  non-combatants  started  from  this  place."  On  our 
wav  'Sir.  Lee  pointed  out  a  monument  over  the  burial  place  which  was  opened  for  General 
Wheeler's  intrenchment,  and  the  well  into  which  ever}'  night  the  dead  had  been  dropped. 
Around  it  is  a  curious  memorial.  There  are  five  cros.ses,  one  at  each  corner  of  the  garden, 
and  one  at  the  centre.  Riding  on,  we  came  to  the  Memorial  Church  built  to  the  memory 
of  those  fallen  in  Cawnpore.  The  walls  are  covered  with  tablets  and  epitaphs.  I  copied 
two  or  three  of  the  inscriptions.  "  These  are  they  who  came  out  of  great  tribulation  ; " 
also,  "  The  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible  ; "  also,  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have 
tribulation,  but  be  of  good  cheer;  I  have  overcome  the  world;"  also,  "The  Lord 
gave  ;  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ;"  also,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden." 

"  Get  into  the  carriage,"  said  ^Ir.  Lee,  and  we  rode  on  to  the  Ganges,  and  got  otit  at  a 
Hindoo  temple  standing  on  the  banks.  "  Now,"  said  Mr.  Lee,  "  here  is  the  place  to  which 
General  Wheeler  and  his  people  came  under  the  escort  of  Nana  Sahib."  I  went  down  the 
steps  to  the  margin  of  the  river.  Down  these  steps  went  General  Wheeler  and  the  men, 
women,  and  children  under  his  care.  They  stood  on  the  side  of  the  steps,  and  Nana  Sahib 
and  his  staff  stood  on  the  other  side.  As  the  women  were  getting  into  the  boats  Nana  Sahib 
objected  that  only  the  aged  and  infirm  women  and  children  should  go  on  board  the  boats. 
The  young  and  attractive  women  were  kept  out.  Twenty-eight  boats  were  filled  with  men, 
women,  and  children  and  floated  out  into  the  river.  Each  boat  contained  ten  armed 
natives.  Then  three  boats  fastened  together  were  brought  up,  and  General  Wheeler  and  his 
staff  got  in.  .Although  orders  were  given  to  start,  the  three  boats  were  somehow  detained. 
At  this  juncture  a  boy  twelve  years  of  age  hoisted  on  the  top  of  the  Hindoo  temple  on  the 
banks  two  flags,  at  which  signal  the  boatmen  and  armed  natives  jumped  from  the  boats  and 
swam  for  the  shore  ;  and  from  inmnnerable  guns  the  natives  on  the  bank  fired  on  the  boats, 
and  masked  batteries  above  and  below  roared  with  destruction,  and  the  boats  sank  with  their 
precious  cargo,  and  all  went  down  save  three  strong  swinnners,  who  got  to  the  opposite 
shore.  Those  who  .struggled  out  nearby  were  dashed  to  death.  Nana  Sahib  and  his  stafl 
with  their  swords  slashed  to  pieces  C^eneral  Wheeler  and  his  staff",  who  had  not  got  well 
away  from  the  shore. 

I  said  that  the  }'oung  and  attractive  women  were  not  allowed  to  get  ir.lo  tlie  boats. 
These  were  marched  away  under  the  guard  of  the  SepoNS. 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY.  2-/9 

"  Wliich  way  ?  "  I  inquired.  ''  I  will  show  you,"  said  Mr.  Lee.  Again  we  took  seats  in 
the  carriage  and  started  for  the  climax  of  desperation  and  diabolism.  NOw  we  are  on  the 
wav  to  a  summer  house  called  the  Assembly  Rooms,  which  had  been  built  for  recreation 
and  pleasure.  It  had  two  rooms,  each  twenty  by  ten  feet,  and  some  windowless  closets,  and 
here  were  enclosed  two  hundred  and  six  helpless  people.  It  was  to  become  the  prison  of 
these  women  and  children.  Some  of  the  Sepoys  got  permission  of  Nana  Sahib  to  take 
one  or  more  of  these  ladies  to  their  own  place,  on  the  promise  they  should  be  brought  back 
to  the  summer  garden  next  morning.  A  daughter  of  General  Wheeler  was  .so  taken  and  did 
not  return.  She  afterward  married  the  Mohammedan  who  had  taken  her  to  his  tent. 
Some  of  the  Sepoys  amused  themselves  by  thrusting  children  through  with  bayonets  and 
holding  them  up  before  their  mothers  in  the  summer  house.  All  the  doors  closed  and  the 
Sepovs  standing  guard,  the  crowded  women  and  children  awaited  their  doom  for  eighteen 
davs  and  nights  amid  sickness,  and  flies,  and  stench,  and  starvation. 

Then  Nana  Sahib  heard  that  Havelock  was  coming,  and  his  name  was  a  terror  to  the 
Sepovs.  Lest  the  women  and  children  imprisoned  in  the  summer  house,  or  Assembly 
Rooms,  should  be  liberated,  he  ordered  that  their  throats  should  be  cut.  The  officers  were 
commanded  to  do  the  work  and  attempted  it,  but  failed  because  the  law  of  caste  would  not 
allow  the  Hindoo  to  hold  the  victims  while  they  were  being  .slain.  Then  one  hundred  men 
were  ordered  to  fire  through  the  windows,  but  the\-  fired  over  the  heads  of  the  imprisoned 
ones,  and  only  a  few  were  killed.  Then  Nana  Sahib  was  in  a  rage,  and  ordered  professional 
butchers  from  among  the  lowest  of  the  gypsies  to  go  at  the  work.  Five  of  them  with 
hatchets  and  swords  and  knives  began  the  work,  but  three  of  them  collapsed  and  fainted 
under  the  ghastliness,  and  it  was  left  to  two  butchers  to  complete  the  slaughter.  The 
struggle,  the  sharp  cut,  the  blinding  blow,  the  cleaving  through  scalp  and  skull,  the  begging 
for  life,  the  death  agony  of  hour  after  hour,  the  tangled  limbs  of  the  corpses,  the  piled-up 
dead — only  God  and  those  who  were  inside  the  summer  house  can  ever  know.  The 
butchers  came  out  exhausted,  thinking  they  had  done  their  work,  and  the  doors  were  closed. 
But  when  they  were  again  opened,  three  women  and  three  boys  were  still  alive.  All  these 
were  soon  dispatched,  and  not  a  Christian  or  a  European  was  left  in  Cawnpore.  The 
murderers  were  paid  fifty  cents  for  each  lady  slain.  The  IMohammedan  assassins  dragged 
bv  the  hair  the  dead  bodies  out  of  the  summer  house  and  threw  them  into  a  well,  by  which 
I  stood  with  such  feelings  as  you  cannot  imagine.  But  after  the  mutilated  bodies  had  been 
thrown  into  the  well,  the  record  of  the  scene  remained  in  hieroglyphics  of  crimson  on  the 
floor  and  wall  of  the  slaughter-house.  An  eye-witness  says  that,  as  he  walked  in,  the  blood 
was  shoe  deep,  and  on  this  blood  were  tufts  of  hair,  pieces  of  muslin,  broken  combs,  frag- 
ments of  pinafores,  children's  straw  hats,  a  card-case  containing  a  curl  with  the  inscription, 
"  Ned's  hair,  with  love  ; "  a  few  leaves  of  an  Episcopal  prayer-book,  also  a  book  entitled, 
"  Preparation  for  Death  ; "  a  Bible,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  was  written,  "  For  darling 
mamma,  from  her  affectionate  daughter,  Isabella  Blair" — both  the  one  who  presented  it  and 
the  one  to  whom  it  was  presented,  departed  forever. 

I  said :  "  I\Ir.  Lee,  I  have  heard  that  indelicate  things  were  foinid  written  on  the  wall 
bv  the  inmates."  He  answered:  "No;  but  these  poor  creatures  wrote  in  charcoal  and 
scratched  on  the  wall  the  story  of  the  brutalities  they  had  suffered." 

When  the  English  and  Scotch  troops  came  upon  the  scene,  their  wrath  was  so  great 
that  General  Neill  had  the  butchers  arrested,  and  before  being  shot,  compelled  them  towipj 
up  part  of  the  floor  of  this  place  of  massacre,  this  being  the  worst  of  their  punishment,  for 
there  is  nothing  that  a  Hindoo  so  hates  as  to  touch  blood.    When  Havelock  came  upon  the 


28o 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


scene  he  had  tliis  order  annulled.  The  well  was  now  not  only  full  of  human  bodies,  but 
corpses  piled  on  the  outside.  The  soldiers  were  for  many  hours  engaged  in  covering  the  dead. 
It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  I  came  upon  this  place  in  Cawnpore.  The 
building  in  which  the  massacre  took  place  has  been  torn  down  and  a  garden  of  exquisite 
and  fragrant  flowers  surrounds  the  scene.  Mr.  Lee  pointed  out  to  us  some  seventy  mounds 
containing  bodies  or  portions  of  bodies  of  those  not  thrown  into  the  well.  A  soldier  stands 
on  guard  to  keep  the  foliage  and  flowers  from  being  ruthlessly  pulled.  I  asked  a  soldier  if  I 
might  take  a  rose  as  a  memento,  and  he  handed  me  a  cluster  of  roses,  red  and  white,  both 
colors  suggestive  to  me  ;  the  red  typical  of  the  carnage  there  enacted,  and  the  white  for  the 
purity  of  those  who  from  that  spot   ascended.     But  of  course  the  most  absorbing  interest 

concentrated  at  the  well,  into 
which  hundreds  of  women  and 
children  were  flung  or  lowered. 
A  circular  wall  of  white  marble 
encloses  this  well.  The  wall  is 
about  twenty  feet  high.  Inside 
this  wall  there  is  a  marble  pave- 
ment. I  paced  it,  and  found  it 
fifty-seven  paces  around.  In  the 
centre  of  this  enclosure,  and  im- 
mediately above  the  well  of  the 
dead,  is  a  sculptured  angel  of  res- 
urrection, with  illumined  face  ; 
and  two  palm  branches,  mean- 
ing victory.  This  angel  is  look- 
ing down  toward  the  slumberers 
beneath,  but  the  two  wings  sug- 
gest the  rising  of  the  last  day. 
Mighty  consolation  in  marble ! 
They  went  down  under  the  hatch- 
ets of  the  Sepoys  ;  they  shall  come 
up  under  the  trumpet  that  .shall 
wake  the  dead.  I  felt  weak  and 
all  a-tremble  as  I  stood  reading 
these  words  on  the  stone  that 
covers  the  well :  "  Sacred  to  the 
perpetual  memory  of  a  great  company  of  Christian  people,  chiefly  women  and  children, 
cruelly  massacred  near  this  spot  by  the  rebel,  Nana  Sahib,  and  thrown,  the  dying  with  the 
dead,  into  the  well  beneath,  on  the  15th  day  of  July,  1857."  On  the  arch  of  the  mausoleum 
were  cut  the  words :  "  These  are  they  who  came  out  of  great  tribulation." 

The  sun  was  sinking  beneath  the  horizon  as  I  came  down  the  seven  or  eight  steps  of 
that  palace  of  a  sepulchre,  and  I  bethought  myself,  "  No  emperor,  unless  it  was  Napoleon, 
ever  had  more  glories  around  his  pillow  of  dust,  and  no  queen,  unless  it  were  the  one  of 
Taj  Mahal,  had  reared  for  her  grander  cenotaph  than  crowns  the  resting  places  of  the 
martyrs  at  Cawnpore.  But  where  rest  the  bones  of  the  Herod  of  the  nineteenth  centur}', 
Nana  Sahib  ?  No  one  can  tell.  Two  men  sent  out  to  find  the  whereabouts  of  the  daughter 
of  General  Wheeler  tracked  Nana  Sahib  during  a  week's  ride  into  the  wilderness,  and  they 


MEMORIAI,    WELL    AT   CAWNPORE. 


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THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


281 


were  told  that  for  a  while  after  the  mutiny  Nana  Sahib  set  up  a  little  pomp  in  the  jungles. 
Among  a  few  thousand  Hindoos  and  Mohammedans  he  took  for  himself  the  only  two  tents 
the  neighborhood  had,  while  they  lived  in  the  rain  and  mud.  Nana  Sahib,  with  one  .servant 
carrying  an  umbrella,  would  go  every  day  to  bathe,  and  people  would  go  and  stare.  For 
some  reason,  after  a  while  he  forsook  even  that  small  attention  and  disappeared  among  the 
ravines  of  the  Himalayan  mountains.  He  took  with  him  in  his  flight  that  which  he  always 
took  with  him — a  ruby  of  vast  value.  He  wore  it  as  some  wear  an  amulet.  He  wore  it  as 
some  wear  a  life-preserver.  He  wore  it  on  his  bosom.  The  Hindoo  priest  told  him  as  long 
as  he  wore  that  ruby  his  fortunes  would  be  good,  but  both  the  ruby  and  the  prince  who 
wore  it  have  vanished.  Not  a  treasure  on  the  oiitside  of  the  bosom,  but  a  treasure  inside 
the  heart,  is  the  best  protection.  Solomon,  who  had  rubies  in  the  hilt  of  swords,  and  rubies 
in  his  crown,  declared  that  which  Nana  Sahib  did  not  find  out  in  his  time :  "  wisdom  is 
better  than  rubies."  When  the  forests  of  India  are  cleared  by  the  axes  of  another  civiliza- 
tion, the  lost  ruby  of  this  Cawnpore  monster  may  be  picked  up,  and  be  brought  back  again 
to  blaze  among  the  world's  jewels.  But  who  shall  reclaim  for  decent  sepulture  the  remains 
of  Nana  Sahib  ?  Ask  the  vultures.  Ask  the  reptiles.  Ask  the  jackals.  Ask  the  mid- 
night Himalavas. 


ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  GANGES 


(2S.) 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  TAJ. 

IN  a  journey  around  the  world  it  may  not  be  easy  to  tell  tlie  exact  point  which 
divides  the  pilgrimage  into  halves.  But  there  was  one  structure  toward  wliich  we 
were  all  the  time  traveling,  and  having  seen  that  we  felt  that  if  we  saw  nothing 
more,  our  expedition  would  be  a  success.  That  one  object  was  the  Taj  of  India. 
It  is  the  crown  of  the  whole  earth.  The  spirits  of  architecture  met  to  enthrone  a  king,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Parthenon  at  Athens  was  there  ;  and  the  spirit  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constanti- 
nople was  there  ;  and  the  spirit  of  vSt.  Isaac  of  St.  Petersburg  was  there;  and  the  spirit  of 
the  Baptistery  of  Pisa  was  there  ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  Great  Pyramid  and  of  the  Luxor 
obelisk,  and  of  the  Porcelain  tower  of  Nankin,  and  of  St.  Mark's  of  Venice,  and  the  spirits 
of  all  the  great  towers,  great  cathedrals,  great  mausoleums,  great  sarcophagi,  great  capitols 
for  the  living,  and  of  great  necropolises  for  the  dead,  were  there.  And  the  presiding  genius 
of  the  throng,  with  gavel  of  Parian  marble  smote  the  table  of  Russian  malachite,  and  called 
the  throng  of  spirits  to  order,  and  called  for  a  vote  as  to  which  spirit  should  wear  the  chief 
crown,  and  mount  the  chief  throne,  and  wave  the  chief  sceptre,  and  by  unanimous  acclaim 
the  cry  was  :  "  Long  live  the  spirit  of  the  Taj,  king  of  all  the  spirits  of  architecture  ! 
Thine  is  the  Taj  Mahal  of  India  !  " 

The  building  is  about  six  miles  from  Agra,  and  as  we  rode  out  in  the  early  dawn  we 
heard  nothing  but  the  hoofs  and  wheels  that  pulled  and  turned  us  along  th.c  road,  at 
every  yard  of  which  our  expectation  rose  until  we  had  some  thought  that  we  might  be 
disappointed  at  the  first  glimpse,  as  some  say  they  were  disappointed.  But  how  anyone  can 
be  disappointed  with  the  Taj  is  almost  as  great  a  wonder  to  me  as  the  Taj  itself.  There 
are  some  people  always  disappointed,  and  who  knows  but  that  having  entered  heaven  they 
may  criticise  the  architecture  of  the  Temple,  and  the  cut  of  the  white  robes,  and  say  that 
the  River  of  Life  is  not  quite  up  to  their  expectations,  and  that  the  white  horses  on  which 
the  conquerors  ride  seem  a  little  springhalt,  or  spavined  ? 

My  son  said,  "  There  it  is  !  "  I  said,  "  Where?  "  For  that  which  he  saw  to  be  the 
building  seemed  to  me  to  be  more  like  the  morning  cloud  blushing  under  the  stare  of  the 
rising  sun.  It  seemed  not  so  much  built  up  from  earth  as  let  down  from  heaven.  For- 
tunately you  stop  at  an  elaborated  gatewav  of  red  sandstone  one-eighth  of  a  mile  from  the 
Taj,  an  entrance  so  high,  so  arched,  so  graceful,  so  four-domed,  so  painted,  and  chisled,  and 
scrolled  that  you  come  very  gradually  upon  the  Taj,  which  structure  is  enough  to  intoxicate 
the  eye,  and  stun  the  imagination,  an<l  entrance  the  soul.  We  go  up  the  winding  stairs  of 
this  majestic  entrance  of  the  gateway,  and  buy  a  few  pictures,  and  examine  a  few  curios, 
and  from  it  look  off  upon  the  Taj,  and  descend  from  the  pavement  to  the  garden  that 
raptures  everything  between  the  gateway  and  the  ecstasy  of  marble  and  precious  stones. 
You  pass  along  a  deep  stream  of  water  in  which  all  manner  of  brilliant  fins  swirl  and  float. 
There  are  eighty-four  fountains  that  spout,  and  bend,  and  arch  themselves  to  fall  in  showers 
of  pearl  in  basins  of  snowy  whiteness.     Beds  of  all  imaginable  flora  greet  the  nostril  before 

(2S3) 


THE   WORLD   AvS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  285 

they  do  the  eye  and  seem  to  roll  in  waves  of  color  as  )-ou  advance  toward  the  vision  you 
are  soon  to  have  of  wliat  human  genius  did  when  it  did  its  best ;  moon-flowers,  lilacs,  mari- 
golds, tulips,  and  almost  everywhere  the  lotus  ;  thickets  of  bewildering  bloom  ;  on  either 
side  trees  from  many  lands  bend  their  arborescence  over}-our  head,  or  seem  with  convoluted 
branches  to  reach  out  their  arms  toward  you  in  welcome.  ( )n  and  on  you  go  amid  tama- 
rind, and  cvpress,  and  poplar,  and  oleander,  and  yew,  and  sycamore,  and  banyan,  and  palm, 
and  trees  of  such  novel  branch,  and  leaf,  and  girth,  you  cease  to  ask  their  name  or  nativity. 
As  you  approach  the  door  of  the  Taj  one  experiences  a  strange  sensation  of  awe,  and  tender- 
ness, and  humility,  and  worship.  The  building  is  onh-  a  grave,  but  what  a  grave  !  Built 
for  a  queen  who,  according  to  some,  was  very  good  ;  and,  according  to  others,  was  very 
bad.  I  choose  to  think  she  was  very  good.  At  any  rate,  it  makes  me  feel  better  to  think 
that  this  commemorative  pile  was  set  up  for  the  immortalization  of  virture  rather  than  vice. 
The  Taj  is  a  mountain  of  white  marble,  but  never  such  walls  faced  each  other  with  exquisite- 
ness  ;  never  such  a  tomb  was  cut  out  from  block  of  alabaster ;  never  such  congregation 
of  precious  stones  brightened,  and  gloomed,  and  blazed,  and  chastened,  and  glorified  a 
building  since  sculptor's  chisel  cut  its  first  curve,  or  painter's  pencil  traced  its  first  figure, 
or  mason's  plumb-line  measured  its  first  wall,  or  architect's  compass  swept  its  first  circle. 

The  Taj  has  sixteen  great  arched  windows,  four  at  each  corner.  Also  at  each  of  the 
four  corners  of  the  Taj  stands  a  minaret  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  feet  high.  Also  at 
each  side  of  this  building  is  a  splendid  mosque  of  red  sandstone.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  has  the  Taj  stood,  and  yet  not  a  wall  has  cracked,  nor  a  mosaic  loosened,  nor  an  arch 
sagged,  nor  a  panel  dulled.  The  storms  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  winters  have  not  marred, 
nor  the  heats  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  summers  disintegrated  a  marble.  There  is  no  story 
of  age  written  by  mosses  on  its  white  surface.  Montaz,  the  queen,  was  beautiful,  and  Shah 
Jehan,  the  king,  here  proposed  to  let  all  the  centuries  of  time  know  it.  She  was  married 
at  twenty  years  of  age  and  died  at  twenty-nine.  Her  life  ended  as  another  life  began  ;  as 
the  rose  bloomed  the  rosebush  perished.  To  adorn  this  dormitory  of  the  dead,  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  king,  Bagdad  sent  to  this  building  its  cornelian,  and  Ceylon  its  lapis-lazuli,  and 
the  Punjab  its  jasper,  and  Persia  its  amethyst,  and  Thibet  its  turquoise,  and  Lanka  its  sap- 
phire, and  Yemen  its  agate,  and  Punah  its  diamonds,  and  bloodstones,  and  sardonyx,  and 
chalcedony,  and  moss  agates  are  as  common  as  though  they  were  pebbles.  You  find  one 
spray  of  vine  beset  with  eighty  and  another  with  one  hundred  stones.  Twenty  thousand  men 
were  twent\-  years  in  building  it,  and  although  the  labor  was  slave-labor,  and  not  paid  for, 
the  building  cost  what  would  be  about  $60,000,000  of  our  American  money.  Some  of  the 
jewels  have  been  picked  out  of  the  wall  by  iconoclasts  or  conquerors,  and  substitutes  of  less 
value  have  taken  their  places ;  but  the  vines,  the  traceries,  the  arabesques,  the  spandrels, 
the  entablatures  are  so  wondrous  that  you  feel  like  dating  the  rest  of  your  life  from  the  day 
you  first  saw  them.  In  letters  of  black  marble  the  whole  of  the  Koran  is  spelled  out  in 
and  on  this  august  pile.  The  king  sleeps  in  the  tomb  besides  the  queen,  although  he 
intended  to  build  a  palace  as  black  as  this  was  white  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  for 
himself  to  sleep  in.  Indeed,  the  foundation  for  such  a  necropolis  of  black  marble  is  still 
there,  and  from  the  white  to  the  black  temple  of  the  dead  a  bridge  was  to  cross ;  but  the 
son  dethroned  him  and  imprisoned  him,  and  it  is  wonderful  that  the  king  had  any  place  at  all 
in  which  to  be  buried.  Instead  of  windows  to  let  in  the  light  upon  the  two  tombs,  there  is 
a  trellis-work  of  marble,  marble  cut  so  delicately  thin  that  the  sun  shines  through  it  as 
easily  as  through  glass.  Look  the  world  over  and  you  find  no  such  translucency,  canopies, 
traceries,  lacework,  embroideries  of  sto'ie. 


(286) 


THE    WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  287 

We  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  resonance  of  this  Taj,  and  so  I  tried  it.  I  suppose 
there  are  more  sleeping  echoes  in  that  building  waiting  to  be  wakened  by  the  human  voice 
tlian  in  any  building  ever  constructed.  I  uttered  one  word,  and  there  seemed  descending 
invisible  choirs  in  full  chant,  and  there  was  a  reverberation  that  kept  on  long  after  one 
would  have  expected  it  to  cease.  When  a  line  of  a  hymn  was  sung  there  were  replying, 
rolling,  rising,  falling,  interweaving  sounds  that  seemed  modulated  by  beings  seraphic. 
There  were  aerial  sopranos  and  bassos,  soft,  high,  deep,  tremulous,  emotional,  commingling. 
It  was  like  an  antiphonal  of  heaven.  But  there  are  four  or  five  Taj  Mahals.  It  has  one 
appearance  at  sunrise,  another  at  noon,  another  at  sunset,  and  another  by  moonlight. 
Indeed,  the  silver  trowel  of  the  moon,  and  the  golden  trowel  of  the  sunlight,  and  the  leaden 
trowel  of  the  storm  build  and  rebuilil  the  glor}',  so  that  it  never  seems  twice  alike.  It  has 
all  moods,  all  complexions,  all  grandeurs.  From  the  top  of  the  Taj,  which  is  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  high,  springs  a  spire  thirty  feet  higher,  and  that  is  enameled  with  gold. 
What  an  anthem  in  eternal  rhythm  !  Lyrics  and  elegies  in  marble  !  Sculptured  hosanna  ! 
Masonry  as  of  supernatural  hands  !  flighty  doxology  in  stone  !  I  shall  see  nothing  to 
equal  it  until  I  see  the  Great  White  Throne  and  on  it  Him  from  wdiose  face  the  earth  and 
the  heavens  flee  away. 

The  Taj  is  the  pride  of  India,  and  especially  of  Mohammedanism.  An  English  officer 
of  the  fortress  told  us  that  when  during  the  general  mutiny  in  1857  the  Mohammedans 
proposed  insurrection  at  Agra,  the  English  Government  aimed  the  guns  of  the  fort  at  the 
Taj  and  said:  "  You  make  insurrection,  and  that  same  day  we  will  blow  your  Taj  to  atoms," 
and  that  threat  ended  the  disposition  for  mutiny  at  Agra. 

I  shall  take  home  with  me  for  mv  book  some  pictures  of  the  Taj,  and  I  have  already 
among  my  baggage  a  block  of  alabaster  hewn  here,  about  a  foot  square,  showing  this  build- 
ing in  miniature.  To  try  to  put  such  a  majesty  of  structure  in  so  small  a  compass  may 
seem  like  trying  to  compress  Haydn's  "  Creation  "  into  a  nmsic-box,  or  paint  Michael  Angelo's 
"  Last  Judgment"  on  a  cup.  But  this  imitation  on  a  small  scale  of  the  grandest  of  human 
creations  may  in  coming  j-ears  revive  ni\'  memory  of  that  wdiich  I  have  now  seen.  And 
then  some  day  when  at  home  the  dull  weather  or  overwork  depresses  me,  and  I  need 
arousal,  I  will  put  this  portable  Taj  on  my  writing-desk  before  me,  and  if  there  be  no 
power  in  the  light  that  tips  the  golden  pinnacles  to  fire  my  imagination,  and  if  my 
thoughts  from  the  tiny  dome  of  alabaster  cainiot  spring  heavenward,  and  if  out  of  all  the 
precious  stones  that  pave,  and  wall,  and  crown  this  mausoleum,  there  be  not  enough  to 
make  a  stairs  on  which  to  climb  into  higher  experiences,  then  it  will  not  be  the  fault  of  the 
great  Frenchman,  Austin  de  Bordeau,  who  built  this  architectural  miracle  of  all  ages,  but 
because  I  did  not  properly  improve  this  coronal  opportunity  of  a  lifetime. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

DELHI— THE  ANCIENT  CAPITAL. 

BEFORE  the  first  historian  impressed  his  first  word  in  clay,  or  cut  his  first  word  on 
marble,  or  wrote  his  first  word  on  papyrus,  Delhi  stood  in  India,  a  contemporary 
of  Babylon  and  Nineveh.     We  know  that  Delhi  existed  longer  before  Christ's 
time   than  we   live  after  his  time.     Delhi  is  built  on  the  ruins  of  seven  cities, 
which   ruins  cover  fourteen  miles  with   wrecked  temples,  broken  fortresses,    split  tombs, 
tumbled-down  palaces  and  the  debris  of  centuries.     An  archaeologist  could  profitably  spend 
his  life  here  talking  with  the  past  through  its  lips  of  venerable  masonrv. 

When  we  arrived  the  city  was  nearly  abandoned  except  by  the  natives,  for  malignant 
fevers  of  all  sorts  reigned.  The  station-master  told  me  that  eighty-five  of  the  employes  of 
the  railroad  were  down  with  sickness.  A  lad}',  to  whom  we  went  for  information  regarding 
the  city,  said  all  the  members  of  her  family  had  the  fever,  and  she  soon  would  be  down 
with  it.  We  had  the  best  hotel  of  the  city  to  ourselves.  The  rainy  season  had  just  ceased 
and  the  rivers  were  receding  and  leaving  the  flats  and  marshes  to  produce  aches,  and  pains, 
and  illnesses  enough  to  supply  all  India.  A  wealthy  American  had,  some  months  before, 
hired  this  entire  hotel  for  his  family,  clearing  out  all  the  other  guests,  and  paying  a  large 
price  for  exclusive  occupancy.  But  at  ordinary  charges  all  the  rooms  of  the  large  hotel 
-were  put  at  our  disposal,  the  fevers  abroad  in  Delhi  securing  for  us  as  much  room  as  a 
multi-millionairist  had  bought  for  one  family.  The  hotel  here  is  unusually  good  for  India, 
but  for  some  reason  nearly  all  the  hotels  of  India  are  distasteful.  There  is  one  style  of 
beverage  that  I  am  especially  fond  of,  and  you  cannot  get  it  in  India.  I  looked  for  it  xip 
and  down  in  all  the  cities.  You  can  bu}-  champagne,  and  beer,  and  brandy,  and  many 
styles  of  drinks,  but  the  rare  beverage  I  speak  of  you  cannot  get.  The  thirst  for  it  some- 
times came  upon  me  so  mightily  I  would  have  given  ten  dollars  for  a  bottle.  There  are 
plenty  of  distilleries  in  that  country,  but  my  favorite  kind  of  liquor  they  do  not  brew.  I 
so  needed  the  stimulus  that  I  was  impatient  to  get  a  glass,  at  least  what  is  called  "  three 
fingers  "  of  it.  I  mean  good  water.  Nothing  under  heaven  can  take  the  place  of  it.  A 
glass  of  water  in  most  parts  of  India  is  a  small  aquarium,  and  a  miniature  menagerie,  and  drink- 
ing it  you  merely  drink  the  occupants,  the  denizens,  the  inhabitants  out  of  the  glass  into 
your  own  digestive  organs,  and  there  are  internal  riots,  and  strikes,  and  rebellions,  and 
massacres,  and  revolutions,  and  pandemoniums  that  either  put  you  in  bed  or  grave.  The 
inestimable  blessing  that  in  America  you  get  by  the  pailful  you  cannot  in  some  parts  of 
India  get  by  the  thimbleful.  And  then  the  advice  given  me  I  give  others  :  "  Butter  }our 
own  toast."  "Why?"  I  asked,  and  you  ask.  Becau.se  the  modes  of  buttering  toast  in  the 
hotels  of  India  are  far  from  satisfactory.  The  native  cook  takes  a  dirt}-  towel  and  dips  it  in 
grease  and  rubs  it  over  the  surface  of  the  toast.  The  advantage  is  that  he  can  butter  sixty 
pieces  of  toast  in  sixty  seconds.  One  wipe,  and  the  deed  is  done  !  This  is  all  a  matter  of 
taste,  but  it  does  not  suit  my  taste.  Yet,  it  does  not  make  much  difference  what  you  eat  or 
where  you  sleep.     You  are  in  India  for  one  object,  namely,  sight-seeing. 

(28S) 


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(2Sy) 


290 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


On  arrival  in  Calcutta  or  Bombay,  either  the  east  side  of  India  or  the  west  side,  you 
must  hire  a  travelincr  servant,  some  one  commended  to  you  for  honesty  and  capacity,  to 
speak  somewhat  of  English.  You  must  also  buy  a  woolen  rug  and  two  blankets  for  sleeping 
purposes,  as  in  many  places  hotels  do  not  provide  anything  but  a  bedstead.  Then,  vou 
must  wear  around  you  what  has  a  frightful  name,  but  is  really  a  sanitary  precaution,  a 
cholera-belt.  You  must  have  a  sun-hat,  a  white  timbrella,  and  white  canvas  shoes,  and 
plenty  of  determination  not  to  have  your  disposition  ruffled,  and  ought  to  carr)-  a  full  reali- 


AKliAK'S    I'ALACIl — TIIKUXli    AND    .\UDlhNCK    RUUM    AT   AGRA. 

Akbar  (very  great)  was  the  greatest  Asiatic  monarch  of  modern  times.  He  assumed  the  rulership  of  India  in  1558,  and  the 
wisdom,  vigor  and  humanity  with  which  he  organized  and  administered  his  dominions  is  unexampled  in  the  East.  Although 
a  Mohammedan  he  was  tolerant  to  other  religions,  and  even  made  a  stiitly  of  Christianity  and  attempted  the  promulgation  of  a  new 
religion  of  his  own.  He  encouraged  literature,  was  progressive  in  spirit,  merciful  and  just  as  a  ruler,  and  sought  by  every  means  to 
relieve  his  subjects  from  the  burdens  of  taxation.     He  died  in  1605. 

zation  of  the  fact  that  you  are  having  an  opportunity  wliich  hundreds  of  millions  of  people 
have  longed  for,  yet  died  without  satisfying. 

And  now  we  are  in  the  city  of  Delhi.  There  are  a  hundred  things  here  you  ought  to 
see,  but  three  things  }ou  must  see.  The  first  thing  I  wanted  to  see  was  the  Cashmere  Gate, 
for  that  was  the  point  at  which  the  most  wonderful  deed  of  daring  which  the  world  has 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


291 


ever  seen  was  done.  That  was  the  tnrnino;-point  of  the  mutiny  of  1857,  so  far  as  Delhi  was 
concerned.  A  lady  at  Delhi  put  into  my  hand  an  oil-painting  of  about  eighteen  inches 
.square,  a  picture  well  executed,  but  chiefly  valuable  for  what  it  represented.  It  was  a  scene 
from  the  time  of  mutiny  ;  two  horses  at  full  run,  harnessed  to  a  carriage  in  which  were  four 
persons.  She  said  :  "  Those  persons  on  the  front  seat  are  my  fatlier  and  mother.  The 
young  lady  on  the  back  seat  holding  in  her  arms  a  baby  of  a  year  was  my  older  sister,  and 
the  baby  was  myself.  My  mother,  wlio  is  down  with  the  fever  in  the  next  room,  painted 
that  years  ago.  The  horses  are  in  full  run,  because  we  were  fleeing  for  our  lives.  My 
mother  is  driving,  for  the  reason  that  father,  standing  up  in  the  front  of  his  carriage,  had  to 
defend  us  with  his  gun,  as  you  there  .see.  He  fought  our  way  out  and  on  for  mau}^  a  mile, 
shooting  down   the  Sepoys  as  we  went.     We  had  somewhat  suspected  trouble,  and  had 


Ri':ni:r.  skpovs  at  dklhi. 

become  suspicious  of  our  servants.  A  prince  had  requested  a  private  interview  with  my 
father,  who  was  editor  of  the  Delhi  Gnzetlc.  The  prince  proposed  to  come  veiled,  so  that 
no  one  might  recognize  him,  but  my  mother  insisted  on  being  present,  and  the  interview 
did  not  take  place.  A  large  fish  had  been  sent  to  our  family  and  four  other  families,  the 
present  an  offering  of  thanks  for  the  king's  recovery  from  a  recent  sickness.  But  we 
suspected  poison  and  did  not  eat  the  fish.  One  day  all  our  servants  came  up  and  said  they 
must  go  and  see  what  was  the  matter.  We  saw  what  was  intended,  and  knew  that  if  the 
servants  returned  they  would  murder  all  of  us.  Things  grew  worse  and  worse  until  this  scene 
of  flight  shown  in  the  picture  took  place.  You  see,  the  horses  were  wild  with  fright.  This 
was  not  only  because  of  the  discharge  of  guns,  but  the  horses  were  struck  and  pounded 


292 


THE  EARTH   GIRDLED. 


by  Sepoys,  and  ropes  were  tied  across  the  way,  and  the  savage  halloo,  and  the  shont  of 
revenge  made  all  the  way  of  onr  flight  a  horror." 

The  books  have  fully  recorded  the  heroism  displayed  at  Delhi  and  approximate  regions, 
but  make  no  mention  of  this  family  of  Wagentreibers,  whose  flight  I  am  mentioning.  But 
the  Madras  Atheneitm  printed  this  : 

"  And  now  !  Are  not  the  deeds  of  the  Wagentreibers,  though  he  wore  a  round  hat  and 
she  a  crinoline,  as  worthy  of  imperishable  verse  as  those  of  tlie  heroic  pair  whose  nuptials 
graced  the  court  of  Charlemagne  ?  A  more  touching  picture  than  that  of  the  brave  man 
contending  with  well-nerved  arm  against  the  black  and  threatening  fate  impending  over  his 
wife  and  child,  we  have  never  seen.  Here  was  no  strife  for  the  glory  of  physical  prowess, 
or  the  spoil  of  shining  arms,  but  a  conquest  of  the  human  mind,  an  assertion  of  the  powers 


SHOOTING  PRISONERS  FROM   A   GUN. 
One  of  the  most  tragic  episodes  in  the  history  of  India  was  the  Sepoy  Rebellion  of  1857,  which  began  in  a  mad  riot  of  massacre 
and  rapine.    When  the  nprising  was  finally  suppressed,  Sir  Hector  Monroe  executed  a  number  of  the  leaders  by  lashing  them 
to  a  cannon  and  blowing  them  from  the  muzzle. 

of  intellect  over  the  most  appalling  array  of  circumstances  that  could  assail  a  human  being. 
Men  have  become  gray  in  front  of  sudden  and  unexpected  peril,  and  in  ancient  days  so  unicli 
was  courage  a  matter  of  heroics  and  mere  instinct  that  we  read  in  immortal  verse  of  heroes 
struck  with  panic  and  fleeing  before  the  enemy.  But  the  savage  Sepoys  with  their  hoarse 
war-cr}-,  and  swarming  like  wasps  around  the  Wagentreibers,  struck  no  terror  into  the  brave 
man's  heart.  His  heroism  was  not  the  mere  ebullition  of  despair,  but  like  that  of  his  wife, 
calm  and  wise  ;  standing  upright  that  he  might  use  his  arms  better." 

As  an  incident  will  sometimes  more  impress  one  than  a  generality  of  statement,  I  jDre- 
sent  the  flight  of  this  one  family  from  Delhi  merely  to  illustrate  the  desperation  of  the 


THROUGH   THE   STREETS   OF   CAWNPORE. 


(293) 


294  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

times.  The  fact  was  that  the  Sepoys  had  taken  possession  of  the  city  of  Delhi,  and  they 
were,  with  all  their  artillery,  fighting  back  the  Europeans  who  were  on  the  outside,  and 
murdering  all  the  Europeans  who  were  inside.  The  city  of  Delhi  has  a  crenulated  wall  on 
three  sides,  a  wall  five  and  one-half  miles  long,  and  the  fourth  side  of  the  city  is  defended 
by  the  river  Jumna.  In  addition  to  these  two  defences  of  wall  and  water,  there  were  40,000 
Sepoys,  all  armed.  Twelve  hundred  British  soldiers  were  to  take  that  city.  Nicholson,  the 
immortal  general,  commanded  them,  and  }-ou  must  visit  his  grave  before  you  leave  Delhi. 
He  fell  leading  his  troops.  He  commanded  them  even  after  mortally  wounded.  You  will 
read  this  inscription  on  his  tomb : 

"John  Nicholson,  who  led  the  assault  of  Delhi,  but  fell  in 
the  hour  of  victor\-,  mortally  wounded,  and 
died  twenty-third  September,  1857. 
Aged  35  years." 

With  what  guns  and  men  General  Nicholson  could  muster  he  had  laid  siege  to  this 
walled  city  filled  with  devils.  What  fearful  odds  !  Twelve  hundred  British  troops 
improtected  by  any  military  works  to  take  a  city  surrounded  by  firm  and  high  masonry,  on 
the  top  of  which  were  one  hundred  and  fourteen  guns  defended  by  40,000  foaming  Sepo)-s. 
A  larger  percentage  of  troops  fell  here  than  in  any  great  battle  I  happen  to  know  of.  The 
Crimean  percentage  of  the  fallen  was  17. 48,  but  the  percentage  of  Delhi  was  37.9.  Yet 
that  city  must  be  taken,  and  it  can  only  be  taken  by  such  courage  as  has  never  been 
recorded  in  all  the  annals  of  bloodshed.  Every  charge  of  the  British  regiments  against  the 
walls  and  gates  had  been  beaten  back.  The  hyenas  of  Hindooism  and  Mohammedanism 
howled  over  the  walls,  and  the  English  arni}^  could  do  nothing  but  bury  their  own  dead.  But 
at  this  gate  (a  picture  of  which  I  send  for  my  book)  I  stand  and  watch  an  exploit  that 
makes  the  page  of  history  tremble  with  agitation.  This  city  has  ten  gates,  but  the  most 
famous  is  the  one  before  which  we  now  stand,  and  it  is  called  Cashmere  Gate.  Write  the 
words  in  red  ink,  because  of  the  carnage  !  Write  them  in  letters  of  light,  for  the  illustrious 
deeds  !*  Write  them  in  letters  of  black,  for  the  bereft  and  the  dead.  Will  the  world  ever 
forget  that  Cashmere  Gate  ?  Lieutenants  Salkeld  and  Home,  and  Sergeants  Burgess, 
Carmichael  and  Smith  offered  to  take  bags  of  powder  to  the  foot  of  that  gate  and  set  them 
on  fire,  blowing  open  the  gate,  although  they  must  die  in  doing  it.  There  they  go,  just  after 
sunrise,  each  one  carrying  a  sack  containing  twenty-four  poimds  of  powder,  and  doing  this 
under  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  Lieutenant  Home  was  the  first  to  jump  into  the  ditch,  which 
still  remains  before  the  gate.  As  they  go,  one  by  one  falls  under  the  shot  and  shell.  One 
of  the  mortally  wounded,  as  he  falls,  hands  his  sack  of  powder  with  a  box  of  lucifer  matches 
to  another,  telling  him  to  fire  the  sack  ;  when,  with  an  explosion  that  shook  the  earth  for 
twenty  miles  around,  part  of  the  Cashmere  Gate  was  blown  into  fragments,  and  the  bodies 
of  some  of  these  heroes  were  so  scattered  they  were  never  gathered  for  funeral,  or  grave,  or 
monument.  The  British  army  rushed  in  through  the  broken  gate,  and  although  six  days 
of  hard  fighting  were  necessary  before  the  city  was  in  comi^lete  possession,  the  crisis  was 
past.  The  Cashmere  Gate  open,  the  capture  of  Delhi  and  all  it  contained  of  palaces,  and 
mosques,  and  treasures  was  possible.  Lord  Napier,  of  Magdala,  of  whom  Mr.  Gladstone 
spoke  to  me  so  affectionately  when  I  was  his  guest  at  Hawarden,  England,  has  lifted  a 
monument  near  this  Cashmere  Gate  with  the  names  of  the  men  who  there  fell  inscribed 
thereon.  That  English  Lord  who  had  seen  courage  on  many  a  battlefield,  visited  this  Cash- 
mere Gate,  and  felt  that  the  men  who  opened  it  with  the  loss  of  their  own  lives  ought  to  be 


1295) 


296  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

coimnemorated,  and  hence  this  cenotaph.  But,  after  all,  the  best  monument  is  the  Gate 
itself,  with  the  deep  gouges  in  the  brick  wall  on  the  left  side  made  by  two  bombshells,  and 
the  wall  above  torn  by  ten  bombshells,  and  the  wall  on  the  right  side  defaced,  and  scarped, 
and  plowed,  and  gullied  by  all  styles  of  long-reaching  weaponry.  Let  the  words  "  Cash- 
mere Gate  "  as  a  synonym  for  patriotism,  and  fearlessness,  and  self-sacrifice  go  into  all 
history,  all  art,  all  literature,  all  time,  all  eternity  ! 

Another  thing  you  must  see  if  you  go  to  Delhi,  though  you  leave  many  things  unseen, 
is  the  palace  of  the  Moguls.  It  is  an  enclosure  of  a  thousand  yards  by  five  hundred.  You 
enter  through  a  vaulted  hall  nearly  four  hundred  feet  long.  Floors  of  Florentine  mosaic, 
and  walls  once  emeralded,  and  sapphired,  and  carbuncled,  and  diamonded.  I  said  to  the 
guide  :  "  Show  us  where  once  stood  the  Peacock  Throne."  "  Here  it  was,"  he  responded. 
All  the  thrones  of  the  earth  put  together  would  not  equal  that  for  costliness  and  brilliance. 
It  had  steps  of  silver,  and  the  seat  and  arms  were  of  solid  gold.  It  cost  about  $150,000,000. 
It  stood  between  two  peacocks,  the  feathers  and  plumes  of  which  were  fashioned  out  of 
colored  stones.  Above  the  throne  was  a  life-size  parrot,  cut  out  of  one  emerald.  Above  all 
was  a  canopy  resting  on  twelve  cohunns  of  gold,  the  canopy  fringed  with  pearls.  Seated 
here,  the  emperor  on  public  occasions  wore  a  crown  containing,  among  other  things,  the 
Koh-i-noor  diamond,  and  the  entire  blaze  of  coronet  cost  $10,350,000.  This  superb  and 
once  almost  supernaturally  beautiful  room  has  imbedded  in  the  white  marble  wall  letters 
of  black  marble,  which  were  translated  to  me  from  Persian  into  English  as  meaning: 

"  If  oil  the  earth  there  be  an  Eden  of  bliss, 
That  place  is  this,  is  this,  is  tliis,  is  this." 

But  the  peacocks  that  stood  beside  the  throne  have  flown  away,  taking  all  the  display 
with  them,  and  those  white  marble  floors  were  reddened  with  slaughter,  and  those  bath- 
rooms ran  with  blood,  and  that  Eden  of  which  the  Persian  couplet  on  the  walls  spake  has 
had  its  flowers  wither,  and  its  fruits  decay,  and  I  thought  while  looking  at  the  brilliant 
desolation,  and  standing  amid  the  banished  glories  of  that  throne-room,  that  some  one  had 
better  change  a  little  that  Persian  couplet  on  the  wall  and  make  it  read  : 

If  there  be  a  place  where  much  you  miss, 
That  place  is  this,  is  this,  is  this,  is  this. 

As  I  came  out  of  the  palace  into  the  street  of  Delhi,  I  thought  to  myself:  paradises 
are  not  built  out  of  stone  ;  are  not  cut  in  sculpture  ;  are  not  painted  on  walls  ;  are  not  fashioned 
out  of  precious  stones ;  do  not  spray  the  cheek  with  fountains ;  do  not  offer  thrones  or 
crowns.  Paradises  are  built  out  of  natures,  uplifted  and  ennobled  ;  and  what  architect's  com- 
pass may  not  sweep,  and  sculptor's  chisel  may  not  cut,  and  painter's  pencil  may  not  sketch, 
and  gardener's  skill  may  not  lay  out,  the  grace  of  God  can  achieve,  and  if  the  heart  be 
right,  all  is  right  ;  and  if  the  heart  be  wrong,  all  is  wrong. 

But  I  will  not  yet  allow  you  to  leave  Delhi.  The  third  thing  you  must  see,  or 
never  admit  that  you  have  been  in  India,  is  the  mosque  called  Jumma  Alusjid.  It  is  the 
grandest  mosque  I  ever  saw  except  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  but  it  surpasses  that  in 
.some  respects  ;  for  St.  Sophia  was  originally  a  Christian  church,  and  changed  into  a  mosque, 
while  this  of  Delhi  was  originally  built  for  the  Moslems. 

As  I  entered,  a  thousand  or  more  Mohammedans  were  prostrated  in  worship.  There 
are  times  when  five  thousand  may  be  seen  here  in  the  same  attitude.  Each  stone  of  the 
floor  is  three  feet  long  by  one  and  one-half  wide,  and  each  worshiper  has  one  of  these  slabs 
for  himself  while  kneeling.     The  erection  of  tliis  building  required  five  thousand  laborers 


(^97 


2  98  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

for  six  years.  It  is  on  a  plateau  of  rock  ;  has  four  towers  rising  far  into  the  heavens  ;  three 
great  gateways  inviting  the  world  to  come  in  and  honor  the  memory  of  the  prophet  of 
many  wives ;  fifteen  domes  with  spires  gold-tipped,  and  six  minarets.  What  a  built-up 
immensity  of  white  marble  and  red  sandstone  !  We  passed  to  a  corner  of  this  mosque  to 
see  tlie  relics  of  Mohammed.  There  are  his  slippers,  much  like  ordinary  slippers,  except 
very  aged.  There,  also,  is  the  hair  of  IVIohammed's  moustache.  You  must  not  touch  it,  for 
it  is  very  sacred,  and  has  been  carefully  guarded  on  down  through  the  centuries.  There, 
also,  is  a  stone  bearing  the  foot-print  of  Mohammed,  leading  you  to  tlie  conclusion  that 
Mohammed  must  have  had  a  very  hard  foot,  or  the  stone  must  have  been  very  soft.  We 
did  not  stay  any  longer  to  examine  that  hair  than  we  staid  to  examine  the  tooth  of  Buddha 
in  Ceylon.  We  descended  the  forty  marble  steps  by  which  we  ascended,  and  took  another 
look  at  this  wonder  of  the  world.  As  I  thought  what  a  brain  the  architect  must  have  had 
who  first  built  that  mosque  in  his  own  imagination,  and  as  I  thought  what  an  opulent  ruler  that 
must  have  been  who  gave  the  order  for  such  vastness  and  symmetry,  I  was  reminded  of 
that  which  perfectly  explained  all.  The  architect  who  planned  this  was  the  same  man  who 
planned  the  Taj,  namely,  Austin  de  Bordeau,  and  tlie  king  who  ordered  the  mosque  con- 
structed was  the  king  who  ordered  the  Taj,  namely.  Shah  Jehan.  As  this  Grand  IMogul 
ordered  built  the  most  splendid  palace  for  tiie  dead  when  he  built  the  Taj  at  Agra,  he  here 
ordered  built  the  most  splendid  palace  of  worship  for  the  living  at  Delhi.  See  here  what 
sculpture  and  architecture  can  accomplish.  The}'  link  together  the  centuries.  They  suc- 
cessfully defy  time.  Two  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago  Austin  de  Bordeau  and  Shah  Jehan 
quit  this  life,  but  their  work  lives  and  bids  fair  to  stand  until  the  continents  crack  open,  and 
hemispheres  go  down,  and  this  planet  showers  other  worlds  with  its  ashes. 

I  rejoice  in  all  these  big  buildings,  whether  dedicated  to  Mohammed,  or  Brahma,  or 
Buddha,  or  Confucius,  or  Zoroaster  ;  because  as  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople  was  a  Christian 
church  changed  into  a  mosque,  and  will  yet  be  changed  back  again,  so  all  the  mosques  and 
temples  of  superstition  and  sin  will  yet  be  turned  into  churches.  When  India,  and  Ceylon,  and 
China,  and  Japan  are  ransomed,  as  we  all  believe  they  will  be,  their  religious  structures  will 
all  be  converted  into  Christian  asylums,  and  Christian  schools,  and  Christian  libraries,  and 
Christian  churches.  Built  at  the  expense  of  superstition  and  sin,  they  will  yet  be  dedicated 
to  the  Lord  Almighty  ! 

As  that  night  we  took  the  railroad  train  from  the  Delhi  station  and  rolled  out  through 
the  city  now  living,  over  the  vaster  cities  buried  under  this  ancient  capital,  cities  under 
cities,  and  our  traveling  servant  had  unrolled  our  bed,  which  consisted  of  a  rug  and  two 
blankets  and  a  pillow ;  and  as  we  were  worn  out  with  the  sight-seeing  of  the  day,  and  were 
roughly  tossed  on  that  uneven  Indian  railway,  I  soon  fell  into  a  troubled  sleep,  in  which 
I  saw  and  heard  in  a  confused  way  the  scenes  and  sounds  of  the  mutiny  of  1857,  which  at 
Delhi  we  had  been  recounting  ;  and  now  the  rattle  of  the  train  seemed  to  turn  into  the 
rattle  of  musketr\' ;  and  now  the  light  at  the  top  of  the  car  deluded  me  with  the  idea  of  a 
burning  city  ;  and  then  the  loud  thump  of  the  railroad  brake  was  in  dream  mistaken  for  a 
booming  battery  ;  and  the  voices  at  the  different  stations  made  me  think  I  heard  the  loud 
cheer  of  the  British  at  the  taking  of  the  Cashmere  Gate  ;  and  as  we  rolled  over  bridges  the 
battles  before  Delhi  seemed  going  on  ;  and  as  we  went  through  dark  tunnels  I  seemed  to 
see  the  tomb  of  Hnmaynn,  in  which  the  king  of  Delhi  was  hidden  ;  and  in  my  dream  I  saw 
Lieutenant  Renny,  of  the  artillery,  throwing  shells  which  were  handed  him,  their  fuses 
burning;  and  Campbell,  and  Reid,  and  Hope  Grant  covered  with  blood;  and  Nicholson 
falling  while   rallying  ou   the  wall   his  wavering  troops ;  and  I  saw  dead  regiment  fallen 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


299 


across  dead  regiment,  and  heard  the  rataplan  of  the  hoofs  of  Hodson's  Horse,  and  the  dash 
of  the  Bengal  Artillery,  and  the  stonning  by  the  immortal  Fourth  Column  ;  and  the 
rouo-her  the  Indian  railway  became,  and  the  darker  the  night  grew,  the  more  the  scenes  that 
.  I  had  been  studying  at  Delhi  came  on  me  in  incubus.  But  the  morning  began  to  look 
throuo-h  the  window  of  our  jolting  rail-car,  and  the  sunlight  poured  in  on  my  pillow,  and 
in  my  dreams  I  saw  the  bright  colors  of  the  English  flag  hoisted  over  Delhi,  where  the 
oreen  banner  of  the  Moslem  had  waved,  and  the  voices  of  the  wounded  and  dying  seemed 
to  be  exchanged  for  the  voices  that  welcomed  soldiers  home  again.  And  as  the  morning 
lio-ht  o'ot  brighter  and  brighter,  and  in  my  dream  I  mistook  the  bells  at  a  station  for  a 
church  bell  hanging  in  a  minaret,  where  a  Mohammedan  priest  had  mumbled  his  call  to 
prayer,  I  seemed  to  hear  a  chant,  whether  by  human  or  angelic  voices  in  my  dream  I 
could  not  tell,  but  it  was  a  chant  about  "  Peace  and  good-will  to  men."  And  as  the 
speed  of  the  rail-train  slackened,  the  motion  of  the  car  became  so  easy  as  we  rolled  along 
the  track  that  it  seemed  to  me  that  all  the  distress,  and  controversy,  and  jolting,  and  wars 
of  the  world  had  ceased  ;  and  in  my  dream  I  thought  we  had  come  to  the  time  when  "  The 
ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon 
their  heads;  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  But  how  provoking  it  was  that  in 
the  midst  of  this  dream  that  started  so  roughly  in  the  suburbs  of  battle-cursed  Delhi,  and 
had  now  under  the  morning  light  and  lessening  speed  become  so  pleasant,  the  conductor 
pushed  back  the  door  of  the  rail-car  and  shouted  :  "  All  out  for  Jeypore  !  " 


BLDDHIST   SACRED   CAVE   AND    CARVKD    KICURE   OF   GANDAURA,    FORTY-FIVE    FKET   IN    I.KNGTH. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


CITY  OF   ELEPHANTS. 


OHE  first  thing  that  strikes  you  at  Je\pore  is  the   elephant.     His  ancestors  were 
brought  over  from  Ce}lon  and  have  been  domesticated,  and  he  here  now  does 
the  office  of  the  horse  or  the  ox.     A  strange-looking  being  is  the  elephant  as  he 
passes  up  aud  down  the  streets  of  Jeypore.     Xow  he,  is  harnessed  to  a  cart,  now 
a  group  of  laborers  are  on  his  back,  or  a  company  of  pleasurists,  although  Americans  would 
as  soon  think  of  hiring  a  canal- 
boat  for  a  picnic. 

Jeypore  is  the  most  spirited 
city  of  India.  It  has  street  gas 
and  electric  lights.  Its  architec- 
ture is  of  peach-blow  color.  Its 
inhabitants  are  gay.  ]\Iore  laughter 
rolls  along  its  streets  than  is  seen 
and  heard  elsewhere.  Its  main 
street  is  one  hundred  and  eleven 
feet    wide,   and    two    miles  long, 


SHIRA',S   Bl'XL,    CARVKIl    FROM   SOLID   ROCK,    JIYSORH. 
The  bull  is  one  of  the  sacred  animals  of  Hindoo  niytholog\',  statues  of  which  are  placed  ou  the  outside  of  temples  of  Siva,  as  it  is 
believed  by   Brahmins  that  all  journeys    taken  by  the  god  are  upon  the  back  of  that   animal.     The  richest   sculptured  bull  in 
India  is  illustrated  above.    Isitmere  coincidence  that  the  Egyptians  venerated  the  bull  (.4pis)  and  that  the  Israelites  worshiped  a 
golden  calf? 

and  has  a  commingling  to  which  nothing  could  be  added.  Chickens,  pigeons,  dogs, 
camels,  donkeys,  elephants,  with  here  and  there  a  muzzled  leopard,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  people  dancing,  chaffering,  joking,  running,  lounging,  fisticuffing.     Right   out  on 

1.300) 


TALMAGE    AND    HIS   SON    ON    THEIR    WAV   TO    AMBER. 


(301) 


302 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


the  street  the  people  make  shoes,  and  winnow  wheat,  and  gin  cotton,  and  spin  thread,  and 
twist  ropes,  and  print  cotton  goods,  and  shave  citizens  (both  shaver  and  shaved  squat 
on  the  ground). 

While  >'ou  are  watching  in  most  amused  condition,  there  passes  you  with  loud 
shout  the  forerunner  of  some  dignitary,  riding  on  gaily  caparisoned  horse,  sword 
jingling  at  his  side.  We  visited  the  stables  of  the  Maharaja,  or  king,  for  in  addition  to 
owning  several  hundred  elephants,  he  has  two  hundred  and  fifty  horses.  Each  horse  has  a 
groom,  who  rattles  off  admiringly  the  pedigree  of  his  charger,  and  sleeps  in  an  opening 
right  above  his  horse.  Each  horse  has  not  only  a  halter,  but  each  foot  is  tethered.  Some 
of  them  were  grand  specimens,  and  looked  well,  harnessed  or  mounted  ;  but  an}-  day  in 
Hyde  Park,  London,  or  Central  Park,  New  York,  or  Prospect  Park,  Brooklyn,  you  can  find 


THE    PRINCE  OF  WAI.ES   STARTING   ON    A    HUNT. 

horses  with  more  graceful  arch  of  neck,  and  more  brilliant  flame  of  eye,  and  more  beautiful 
round  of  limb,  and  more  exquisite  touches  of  color. 

The  suburbs  of  Jeypore  are  worth  a  visit.  The  desert  on  one  side  is  making  strong 
invasion  upon  the  city,  and  houses  and  gardens  are  being  conquered  by  the  sands  driving 
in,  until  they  are  in  some  places  forty  or  fifty  feet  deep.  But  you  ride  out  a  couple  of  miles 
in  another  direction,  and  you  reach  "  The  Temple  of  the  Sun,"  standing  on  a  hill  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high.  The  Temple  is  not  as  radiant  as  its  name  indicates,  but  the 
view  from  its  steps  is  so  far-reaching  and  striking  that  the  city  of  Jeypore  seems  to  throw  its 
crowns  of  splendor  to  your  feet. 

By  all  means  visit  the  Zoological  and  Botanic  Gardens.  Here  you  see  that  interest- 
ing creature   called  the  man-eater,  the  tiger  who   prefers   human  flesh,  and  nothing  else 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  303 

Toasted,  or  fried,  or  baked  is  so  delicious  that  lie  will  not  prefer  a  man  raw.  These  tigers 
ha\-e  at  times  kept  the  neighborhood  of  Je^pore  and  of  other  cities  in  constant  dread,  for 
they  will  dare  almost  anything  to  get  their  favorite  repast.  Hnntersdare  not  go  after  them, 
but  pits  are  digged  for  the  capture  of  these  ferocious  creatures,  and  they  are  left  in  these  pits 
until  exhausted  with  hunger  and  almost  dead,  then  they  can  be  safely  taken  out  for  the 
menageries.  There  is  a  tigress  here  who  has  the  reputation  of  having  eaten  fifteen  human 
beings. 

The  impression  that  these  tigers  prefer  human  flesh  above  all  else  may,  however, 
be  inaccurate.  An  unarmed  man  is  more  easily  captured  than  the  brutes,  the  most  of  which 
have  horn,  or  hoof,  or  tusk,  or  strength  to  resist ;  and  it  may  be  that  the  man-eating  tigers 
in  choice  of  food  ma)-  consult  economy  of  struggle  quite  as  much  as  taste  for  human  blood. 
But  they  are  awful  creatures  to  look  at.  1  stirred  them  up  in  all  the  zoological  gardens  I 
visited.  They  bent  every  iron  bar  of  the  cage  in  effort  to  get  at  us.  In  the  midst  of  a  public 
garden  covering  seventy  acres  at  Jeypore  is  a  museum,  and  in  it  \ou  find  specimens  of 
everything  curious  and  admirable  in  art  or  industry,  but  more  than  the  fine  enamel-ware, 
and  jewel-cases,  and  upholstery,  and  antique-ware  that  others  were  especially  interested  in, 
I  was  attracted  by  the  jewels  of  wit,  and  wisdom,  and  kindness  written  in  Hindoo  language 
on  the  wall,  and  also  their  translations  in  English,  such  as  : 

"  The  wise   make   failure  equal  to  success." 

"  Do  naught  to  others  which  if  done  to  thee 
Would  cause  thee  pain  ;  this  is  the  sum  of  duty." 

"  He  only  does  not  live  in  vain, 
Who  all  the  means  within  his  reach 
Employs,  his  wealth,  his  thought,  his  speech, 
T'  advance  the  good  of  other  men." 

"  Like  threads  of  silver  seen  through  crj-stal  beads, 
Let  love  through  good  deeds  show." 

"  A  man  obtains  a  proper  rule  of  action 
By  looking  on  his  neighbors  as  himself" 

Before  you  leave  Jeypore  }ou  will  have  to  buy  some  memento  in  the  shape  of  garnet 
jewels,  or  enamels,  or  shells,  or  umbrella,  or  chintzes,  or  ivory  carvings,  for  the  manufacture 
of  which  the  city  has  world-wide  fame.  But  you  must  be  wide  awake,  or  you  will  pay  ten 
prices  for  something  of  little  worth,  and  carry  home  that  which  some  expert  will  discover, 
as  soon  as  you  are  showing  it,  to  be  a  bogus  spoon,  or  bowl,  or  plate,  or  finger-ring.  Many 
have  found  out  afterward  that  there  are  things  in  Jeypore  which  look  like  rubies  and 
emeralds,  which  are  neither  rubies  nor  emeralds. 

You  will  want  to  make  your  visit  at  Jeypore  climacteric  by  seeing  the  palace  of  the 
Maharaja.  The  princes  of  Jeypore  are  said  to  have  descended  directly  from  the  sun.  What 
an  ancestry,  the  King  of  Day !  While  we  must  dispute  that  genealogical  table,  it  is  not 
apocryphal  that  there  have  been  wonderful  persons  in  the  ancestral  line  of  these  princes. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  all  time  was  the  piince  Jey  Singh,  who  founded  the 
city  of  Jeypore.  In  this  and  other  cities  he  built  five  observatories  and  put  in  them  instru- 
ments of  his  own  invention,  although  he  died  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  when 
astronomy  was  much  younger  than  now.  He  patronized  art.  He  reformed  the  world's 
calendar.     He  astounded  all  the  nations  that  heard  of  his  genius.     I  would  rather  have  that 


304 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


man  for  an  ancestor  than  the  snn,  for  that  is  onl)-  a  blast  furnace  on  a  large  scale.     For 
forty-four  years  did  Jey  Singh  reign  in  India. 

There  have  also  been  remarkable  women  in  this  countr\-.  Fifteen  thousand  of  them 
committed  suicide  after  an  unfortunate  battle  rather  than  come  into  the  possession  of  a 
ruffian  soldiery.  The  present  Maharaja,  now  thirty-six  years  of  age,  was  a  poor  exiled  boy. 
but  the  previous  ruler  having  no  son  adopted  this  exile,  and  the  people  proclaimed  him 
Maharaja,  and  he  is  ruling  well  in  a  palace  which  is  a  bewitchment  of  beauty.  It  is  made 
up  of  seven  stories  of   resi^lendent  architecture.      When  the  draughtsman   dreamed   that 


BURMESE    CARRIAGE   AND    PAIR. 


palace  he  must  have  been  asleep  in  a  garden,  had  his  head  on  a  pillow  of  roses,  his  face 
turned  toward  a  summer  sunset,  the  groves  near-by  filled  with  chant  of  bird  orchestra.  The 
eye  climbs  from  marble  step  to  latticed  balcony,  and  from  latticed  balcony  to  oriel,  and  from 
oriel  to  arch,  and  from  arch  to  roof,  and  then  descends  on  ladder  of  all  colors,  and  by  stairs 
of  perfect  lines  to  imperial  gardens  of  pomegranate  and  pineapple.  What  a  transition  for 
the  exiled  bov  from  a  hut  to  a  structure  that  seems  built  out  of  clouds,  and  flower  gardens, 
and  enchantments  celestial  and  terrestrial  ! 

But  the  Maharaja   is  himself  not  at  all  ethereal  or  fairy-like.     Stout  in  body,  a  little 
under  the  average  stature  of  men,  face  a  pleasant  dull,  with  afl^uence  of  beard  from  ear  to 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  305 

ear  and  down  under  the  lower  jaw,  wliile  a  mustache  hovers  over  thick  lips.  He  is  a  clever 
soul,  both  in  the  English  and  American  sense  of  clever.  The  people  like  him,  and  when 
he  moves  in  procession  the  populations  run  wild  with  enthusiasm,  and  even  the  elephants 
seem  to  give  an  applauding  flap  to  their  awkward  ears.  The  military  at  his  command  are 
1000  artillerymen,  4500  cavalry,  and  16,000  infantry,  so  that  whether  for  purposes  of  warlike 
defence,  or  pomp  parade,  the  Maharaja  is  not  helpless. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Jej'pore  is  a  depopulated  city  called  Amber.  The  strange  fact  is 
that  a  ruler  abandoned  his  palaces  at  Amber  and  moved  to  Jeypore,  and  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  followed.  Except  here  and  there  a  house  in  Amber  occupied  by  a  hermit,  the 
cit\-  is  as  silent  a  population  as  Pompeii  or  Herculaneum  ;  but  those  cities  were  emptied 
bv  volcanic  disaster,  while  this  city  of  Amber  was  vacated  because  Prince  Jey  Singh  was 
told  by  a  Hindoo  priest  that  no  city  should  be  inhabited  more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  so 
the  ruler  one  hundred  and  seventy  \'ears  ago  moved  out  himself,  and  all  his  people  moved 
with  him. 

You  visit  Amber  on  the  back  of  an  elephant.  Permission  obtained  for  your  visit  the 
day  before  at  Jeypore,  an  elephant  is  in  waiting  for  you  about  six  miles  out  to  take  you  up 
the  steeps  to  Amber.  If  you  get  seasick  crossing  the  Atlantic,  you  will  probably  get 
elephant  sick  by  the  swaying  of  the  monster  as  you  ascend  to  the  dead  city  of  Amber.  You 
pass  through  the  awfully  quiet  streets,  all  the  feet  that  trod  them  in  the  days  of  their  activity 
having  gone  on  the  long  journey,  and  the  \-oices  of  business  and  ga}ety  that  sounded  amid 
these  abodes  having  many  years  ago  uttered  their  last  syllable.  You  pass  bv  a  lake  cover- 
ing five  hundred  acres,  where  the  rajahs  used  to  sail  in  their  pleasure  boats,  but  alligators 
now  have  full  possession,  and  }'ou  come  to  the  abandoned  palace,  which  is  an  enchant- 
ment. No  more  picturesque  place  was  ever  chosen  for  the  residence  of  a  monarch.  The 
fortress  above  looks  down  upon  this  palace,  and  the  palace  looks  down  upon  a  lake.  This 
monarchial  abode  may  have  had  attractions  when  it  was  the  home  of  royalty,  which  have 
vanished,  but  antiquity  and  the  silence  of  many  years,  and  opportunity  to  tread  where  once 
you  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  tread,  may  be  an  addition  quite  equal  to  the  sub- 
traction. 

I  will  not  go  far  into  a  description  of  brazen  doorway  after  brazen  doorway,  and  carved 
room  after  carved  room,  and  lead  you  under  embellished  ceiling  after  embellished  ceiling, 
and  through  halls  precious-stoned  into  wider  halls  precious-stoned.  Why  tire  out  your 
imagination  with  the  particulars  when  you  may  sum  up  all  by  saying  that  on  the  slopes  of 
that  hill  in  India  are  pavilions  deeply  dyed,  tasseled  and  arched  ?  the  fire  of  colored  gardens 
cooled  b\'  the  snow  of  white  architecture  ;  bath-rooms  that  refresh  before  )-our  feet  touch 
their  marble  ;  birds  in  arabesque  so  natural  to  life,  that  while  you  cannot  hear  their  voices 
you  imagine  you  see  the  flutter  of  their  wings  while  you  are  passing  ;  stoneware  translu- 
cent ;  walls  pictured  with  hunting  scene,  and  triumphal  procession,  and  jousting  party ; 
rooms  that  are  called  "  Alcove  of  Light,"  and  "  Court  of  Honor,"  and  "  Hall  of  Victory  ; " 
marble,  white  and  black,  like  a  mixture  of  morning  and  night  ;  alabaster,  and  lacquer- 
work,  and  mother-of-pearl  :  all  that  architecture,  and  sculpture,  and  painting,  and  horticul- 
ture can  do  when  they  put  their  genius  together  was  done  here  in  ages  past,  and  much  of 
their  work  still  stands  to  absorb  and  entrance  archseologist  and  sight-seer. 

But  what  a  solemn  and  stupendous  thing  is  an  abandoned  city.  While  many  of  the 
peoples  of  earth  have  no  roof  for  their  head,  here  is  a  whole  fity  of  roofs  rejected.  The 
sand  of  the  desert  was  sufficient  excuse  for  the  disappearance  of  Heliopolis,  and  the  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  for  the  engulfment  of  T\re,  and  the  lava  of  Mount  Vesuvius  for 


3o6 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


tlie  obliteration  of  Herculaneum  ;  but  for  tlie  sake  of  notliing  but  a  superstitious  whim  the 
•citv  of  Amber  is  abandoned  forever.  Oh,  wondrous  India !  The  discarded  city  of  Amber 
is  onlv  one  of  the  marvels  which  compel  the  uplifting  hand  of  surprise  from  the  day  you 
enter  India  until  the  day  you  leave  it.  Its  flora  is  so  aromatic  and  flamboyant ;  its  fauna  so 
monstrous  and  savage  ;  its  ruins  so  suggestive  ;  its  idolatry  so  horrible ;  its  degradation  so 
sickening  ;  its  mineralogy  so  brilliant ;  its  splendors  so  irradiating  ;  its  architecture  so  old, 
so  grand,  so  educational,  so  multipotent,  that  India  will  not  be  fully  comprehended  until 
science  has  made  its  last  experiment,  and  exploration  has  ended  its  last  journey,  and  the 
library  of  the  world's  literature  has  closed  its  last  door,  and  Christianity  has  made  its  last 
achievement,  and  the  Clock  of  Time  has  struck  its  last  hour. 


SIR  J.    1  AVRl.K, 

Hon.  Physician  to  Her  Majesty  Queeu  Victoria, 
who  accompanied  the  Prince  of  Wales,  as  his  med- 
ical adviser,  on  his  trip  to  India. 


m 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  FIRE  WORSHIPERS. 

'E  have  seen  the  Parsees !     The   prophet  of  the   Parsees  was  Zoroaster  of  Persia. 
He  was  poet,  and  philosopher,  and  reformer,  as  well  as  religionist.     His  disci- 
ples thrived  at  first  in  Persia,  bnt  under  Mohammedan  persecution  they  retreated 
to  India,  where  I   met  them,  and  in  addition   to  what  I  saw  of  them  at  their 
headquarters  here,   I  had  two    weeks  of   association  with  one  of    the  most   learned  and 
genial  of  their  people  on  shipboard  from  Bombay  to  Brindisi. 

The  Bible  of  the  Parsees,  or  fire-worshipers  as  they  are  inaccurately  called,  is  the 
Zend-Avesta,  a  collection  of  the  strangest  books  that  ever  came  into  my  hands.  There  were 
originally  twenty-one  volumes,  but  Alexander  the  Great,  in  a  drunken  fit  set  fire  to  a  palace 
which  contained  some  of  tliem,  and  they  went  into  ashes  and  forgetfulness.  But  there  are 
more  of  their  sacred  volumes  left  than  most  people  would  have  patience  to  read.     There 

are  many  things  in  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Parsees  that 
suggest  Christianity,  and 
some  of  its  doctrines  are  in 
accord  with  our  own  re- 
ligion. Zoroaster,  who  lived 
about  fourteen  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  was  a 
good  man,  suffered  perse- 
cution for  his  faith,  and 
was  assassinated  while  wor- 
shiping at  an  altar.  He 
announced  the  theory  "  He 
is  best  who  is  pure  of 
heart !  "  and  that  there  are 
two  great  spirits  in  the 
world,  Ormuzd,  the  good 
spirit,  and  Ahriman,  the 
bad  spirit,  and  that  all  who 
do  right  are  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Ormuzd,  and  all  who  do  wrong  are  under  Ahriman ;  that  the  Parsee  must 
be  born  on  the  ground-floor  of  the  house  ;  and  must  be  buried  from  the  ground  floor  ;  that 
the  dying  man  must  have  prayers  said  over  him  and  a  sacred  juice  given  him  to 
drink  ;  that  the  good  at  their  decease  go  into  eternal  light,  and  the  bad  into  eternal 
darkness ;  that  having  passed  out  of  this  life  the  soul  lingers  near  the  corpse  three 
days  in  a  Paradisaic  state,  enjoying  more  than  all  the  nations  of  earth  put  together 
could  enjoy,  or  in  a  Pandemoniac  state,  suffering  more  than  all  the  nations  put  together 
could   possibly  suffer,    but  at  the  end    of  tliree   days    departing  for   its   final   destiny  ;  and 

(307] 


PARSEES     TOWER    OF   SILENCE,    BOMBAY. 


3o8  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

that  there  will  be  a  resurrection  of  the  bod}-.  They  are  more  careful  thau  an>-  other 
people  ■'bout  their  ablutions,  and  they  wash,  and  wash,  and  wash.  They  pay  great 
attentiosi  to  physical  health,  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  a  sick  Parsee.  They  do  not 
smoke  tobacco,  for  they  consider  that  a  misuse  of  fire.  At  the  close  of  mortal  life  the 
soul  appears  at  the  Bridge  Chinvat,  where  an  angel  presides,  and  questions  the  soul  about 
the  thoughts,  and  words,  and  deeds  of  its  earthly  state.  Nothing,  however,  is  more  intense 
in  the  Parsee  faith  than  the  theory  that  the  dead  body  is  impure.  A  devil  is  supposed  to 
take  possession  of  the  dead  body.  All  who  touch  it  are  unclean  and  hence  the  strange  style 
of  obsequies.  But  here  I  miist  give  three  or  four  questions  and  answers  from  one  of  the 
Parsee  catechisms : 

Question :  Who  is  the  most  fortunate  man  in  the  world  ? 

Ansic'cr :  He  who  is  the  most  innocent. 

Question  :  Who  is  the  most  innocent  man  in  the  world  ? 

Answer :  He  who  walks  in  the  path  of  God  and  shuns  that  of  the  devil. 

Question :  Which  is  the  path  of  God,  and  which  that  of  the  devil  ? 

Answer:  Virtue  is  the  path  of  God,  and  vice  that  of  the  devil. 

Question  :  What  constitutes  virtue,  and  what  vice  ? 

Answer :  Good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  deeds  constitute  virtue,  and  evil 
thoughts,  evil  words,  and  evil  deeds  constitute  vice. 

Question :  What  constitute  good  thoughts,  good  words,  and  good  deeds,  and  evil 
thoughts,  evil  words,  and  evil  deeds? 

Ansccer :  Honesty,  charity,  and  truthfulness  constitute  the  former ;  and  dishonestv, 
want  of  charity,  and  falsehood  constitute  the  latter. 

And  now  the  better  to  show  you  these  Parsees,  I  tell  you  of  two  things  I  saw  within  a 
short  time  in  Boniba}',  India.     It  was  an  afternoon  of  contrast. 

We  started  for  Malabar  Hill,  on  which  the  wealthy  classes  have  their  embowered  homes, 
and  the  Parsees  their  strange  Temple  of  the  Dead.  As  we  rode  along  the  water's  edge  the 
sun  was  descending  the  sky,  and  a  disciple  of  Zoroaster,  a  Parsee,  was  in  lowly  posture 
and  with  reverential  gaze  looking  into  the  sky.  He  would  have  been  said  to  have  been 
worshiping  the  sun,  as  all  Parsees  are  said  to  worship  the  fire.  But  the  intelligent  Parsee 
does  not  worship  the  fire.  He  looks  upon  the  sun  as  the  emblem  of  the  warmth  and  light 
of  the  Creator.  Looking  at  a  blaze  of  light,  whether  on  hearth,  on  mountain  height,  or  in 
the  sky,  he  can  more  easily  bring  to  mind  the  glory  of  God :  at  least,  so  the  Parsees  tell  me. 
Indeed,  they  are  the  pleasantest  heathen  I  have  met.  They  treat  their  wives  as  equals,  while 
the  Hindoos  and  Buddhists  treat  them  as  cattle  ;  although  the  cattle,  and  sheep,  and  swine 
are  better  off  than  most  of  the  women  of  India. 

This  Parsee  on  the  roadside  on  our  way  to  Malabar  Hill  was  the  onh-  one  of  that 
religion  I  had  ever  seen  engaged  in  worship.  Who  knows  but  that  beyond  the  light  of  the 
sun  on  which  he  gazes  he  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  God  who  is  Light,  and  "  in  whom 
there  is  no  darkne-ss  at  all  !  " 

We  passed  on  up  through  gates  into  the  garden  that  surrounds  the  place  where  the 
Parsees  dispose  of  their  dead.  This  garden  was  given  by  Jamshidji  Jijibhai,  and  is  beautiful 
with  flowers  of  all  hue,  and  foliage  of  all  styles  of  vein,  and  notch  and  stature.  There  is 
on  all  sides  great  opulence  of  fern  and  cypress.  The  garden  is  one  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  Not  far  from  the  entrance  is  a  building  where  the  mourners  of  the  funeral 
procession  go  in  to  pray.  A  light  is  here  kept  burning  year  in  and  year  out.  We  ascend 
the  garden  by  some  eight  stone  steps.     The   body    of  a  deceased   aged  woman  was  being 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


309 


carried  in  toward  the  chief  "Tower  of  Silence."  There  are  five  of  these  towers.  Several 
of  them  have  not  been  used  for  a  long  while.  Four  persons,  whose  business  it  is  to  do  this, 
carry  in  the  corpse.  They  are  followed  b\-  two  men  with  long  beards.  The  Tower  of 
Silence,  to  which  they  come,  cost  $150,000,  and  is  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  two  hundred 
and  seventy-six  feet  around,  and  without  a  roof.  Tlie  four  carriers  of  the  dead  and  the  two 
bearded  men  come  to  the  door  of  the  Tower,  enter  and  leave  the  dead.     There  are  three 


GROUND  ?im 

OF   A 

T0T7ER  OtlSILEKCE 

VIEW  or  ^^iFlNTEEIOR. 

rows  of  places  for  the  dead  :  the  outer  row  for  the  men,  the  middle  row  for  the  women,  the 
inside  row  for  the  children.  The  lifeless  bodies  are  left  exposed  as  far  down  as  the  waist 
As  soon  as  the  employes  retire  from  the  Tower  of  Silence,  the  vultures,  now  one,  now  two, 
now  many,  swoop  upon  the  lifeless  form.  These  vultures  fill  the  air  with  their  dis- 
cordant voices.  We  saw  them  in  long  rows  on  the  top  of  the  white-washed  w-all  of  the 
Tower  of  Silence.     In  a  few   minutes  they  have  taken   the   last   particle  of  flesh  from  the 


3IO 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


bones.  There  had  evidently  been  other  opportunities  for  them  that  day,  and  some  flew  away 
as  though  surfeited.  They  sometimes  carry  away  with  them  parts  of  a  body,  and  it  is 
no  unusual  thing  for  the  gentlemen  in  their  country-seats  to  have  dropped  into  their  door- 
yards  a  bone  from  the  Tower  of  Silence. 

In  the  centre  of  this  tower  is  a  well,  into  which  the  bones  are  thrown  after  they  are 
bleached.  The  hot  sun,  and  the  rainy  season,  and  charcoal  do  their  work  of  disintegration 
and  disinfection,  and  then  there  are  sluices  that  carry  into  the  sea  what  remains  of  the  dead. 


CAR  OF  JUGGERNAUT. 

Juggernaut  is  worshiped  by  Brahmins  as  Lord  of  the  world.  At  the  car  festival  this  god  is  brought  out  and  seated  upon  a  car 
forty-one  feet  high,  with  fourteen  enormous  wheels,  which  are  fantastically  draped.  The  car  is  then  drawn  througli  the  streets  at  the 
conmiand  of  priests  by  faithful  devotees,  who  shout,  ■'  Victory  to  Juggernaut."  The  stories  told  of  people  throwing  tliemselves  beneath 
the  car  wheels  are  fictions,  the  god  being,  in  fact,  described  as  the  most  merciful  one  in  Hindoo  mythology. 

The  wealthy  people  of  Malabar  Hill  have   made  strenuous  efforts  to  have  these  strange 
towers  removed  as  a  nuisance,  but  they  remain,  and  will,  no  doubt,  for  ages  remain. 

I  talked  with  a  learned  Parsee  about  these  mortuary  customs.  He  said,  "  I  suppose 
you  consider  them  very  peculiar,  but  the  fact  is  we  Parsees  reverence  the  elements  of  nature, 
and  cannot  consent  to  defile  them.     We  reverence  the  fire,  and  therefore  will  not  ask  it  to 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  31  r 

burn  our  dead.  We  reverence  the  water,  and  do  not  ask  it  to  submerge  our  dead.  We 
reverence  the  earth,  and  will  not  ask  it  to  bury  our  dead.  And  so  we  let  the  vultures  take 
them  away."  He  confirmed  me  in  the  theory  that  the  Parsees  act  on  the  principle  that  tlie- 
dead  are  unclean.  No  one  must  touch  such  a  body.  The  carriers  of  this  "  Tomb  of 
Silence  "  must  not  put  their  hands  on  the  form  of  the  departed.  They  wear  gloves  lest  some- 
how thev  should  be  contaminated.  When  the  bones  are  to  be  removed  from  the  sides  of  the 
tower  and  put  in  the  well  at  the  centre,  they  are  touched  carefully  by  tongs.  Then  these 
people  beside  have  ver\'  decided  theories  about  the  democracy  of  the  tomb.  No  such  thing 
as  caste  among  the  dead.  Philosopher  and  boor,  the  affluent  and  the  destitute,  must  go 
through  the  same  "  Tower  of  Silence,"  lie  down  side  by  side  with  other  occupants,  have 
their  bodies  dropped  into  the  same  abyss,  and  be  carried  out  through  the  same  canal  and 
float  awav  on  the  same  sea.  No  splendor  of  Necropolis.  No  sculpturing  of  mausoleum. 
No  pomp  of  dome  or  obeli^sk.  Zoroaster's  teaching  resulted  in  these  "  Towers  of  Silence." 
He  wrote  :     "  Naked  you  came  into  the  world,  and  naked  you  must  go  out." 

As  I  stood  at  the  close  of  day  in  this  garden  on  Malabar  Hill  and  heard  the  flap  of  the- 
vultures'  wings  coming  from  their  repast,  the  funeral  custom  of  the  Parsee  seemed  horrible 
beyond  compare,  and  yet  the  dissolution  of  the  human  body  by  any  mode  is  awful,  and  the 
beaks  of  these  fowl  are  probably  no  more  repulsive  than  the  worms  of  the  body  devouring 
the  sacred  human  form  in  cemeteries. .  Nothing  but  the  resurrection  day  can  undo  the  awful 
work  of  death,  whether  it  now  be  put  out  of  sight  by  cutting  spade  or  flying  wing. 

Starting  homeward,  we  soon  were  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  saw  a  building  all  a-flash 
with  lights  and  resounding  with  merry  voices.  It  was  a  Parsee  wedding,  in  a  building  erected 
especially  for  the  marriage  ceremony.  We  came  to  the  door  and  proposed  to  go  in,  but  at 
first  were  not  permitted.  They  saw  we  were  not  Parsees,  and  that  we  were  not  even  natives. 
So  very  politely  they  halted  us  on  the  doorsteps.  This  temple  of  nuptials  was  chiefly 
occupied  by  women,  their  ears,  and  necks,  and  hands  a-flame  with  jewels  or  imitations  of 
jewels.  By  pantomime  and  gesture,  as  we  had  no  use  of  their  vocabulary,  we  told  them  we 
were  strangers  and  were  curious  to  see  by  what  process  Parsees  were  married.  Gradually 
we  worked  our  way  inside  the  door.  The  building  and  the  surroundings  were  illumined  by 
hundreds  of  candles  in  glasses  and  lanterns,  in  unique  and  grotesque  holdings.  Conversa- 
tion ran  high,  and  laughter  bubbled  over,  and  all  was  gay.  Then  there  was  a  sound  of  an 
advancing  band  of  music,  but  the  instruments  for  the  most  part  were  strange  to  our  ears, 
and  eyes.  Louder  and  louder  were  the  outside  voices,  and  the  wind  and  stringed  instru- 
ments, until  the  procession  halted  at  the  door  of  the  temple  and  the  bridegroom  mounted 
the  steps.  Then  the  music  ceased,  and  all  the  voices  were  still.  The  mother  of  the  bride- 
groom, with  a  platter  loaded  with  aromatics  and  articles  of  food,  confronted  her  son  and 
began  to  address  him.  Then  she  took  from  the  platter  a  bottle  of  perfume  and  sprinkled 
his  face  with  the  redolence.  All  the  while  speaking  in  a  droning  tone,  she  took  from  the 
platter  a  handful  of  rice,  throwing  some  of  it  on  his  head,  spilling  some  of  it  on  his  shoulder,, 
pouring  some  of  it  on  his  hands.  .She  took  from  the  platter  a  cocoanut  and  wa\'ed  it  about 
his  head.  She  lifted  a  garland  of  flowers  and  threw  it  over  his  neck,  and  a  bouquet  of  flowers, 
and  put  it  in  his  hand.  Her  part  of  the  ceremony  completed,  the  band  resumed  its  music, 
and  through  another  door  the  bridegroom  was  conducted  into  the  centre  of  the  building. 
The  bride  was  in  the  room,  but  there  was  nothing  to  designate  her.  "  Where  is  the  bride  ?  " 
I  said,  "  where  is  the  bride  ?  "  After  a  while  she  was  made  evident.  The  bride  and  groom 
were  seated  on  chairs  opposite  each  other.  \  white  curtain  was  dropped  between  them  so- 
that  they  could  not  see  each  other.     Then  the  attendants  put  their  arms  under  this  curtain,, 


312 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


took  a  long  rope  of  linen  and  wound  it  around  the  neck  of  the  bride  and  the  groom,  in 
token  that  thev  were  to  be  bound  together  for  life.  Then  some  silk  strings  were  wound 
around  the  couple,  now  around  this  one,  now  around  that.  Then  the  groom  threw  a  hand- 
ful of  rice  across  the  curtain  on  the  head  of  the  bride,  and  the  bride  responded  bv 
throwing  a  handful  of  rice  acro.ss  the  curtain  on  the  head  of  the  groom.  Thereupon  the 
curtain  dropped  and  the  bride's  chair  was  removed  and  put  beside  that  of  the  groom. 
Then  a  priest  of  the  Parsee  religion  arose  and  faced  the  couple.  Before  the  priest  was 
placed  a  platter  of  rice.  He  began  to  address  the  young  man  and  woman.  We  could  not 
hear  a  word,  but  we  understood  just  as  well  as  if  we  had  heard.  Ever  and  anon  he  punc- 
tuated his  ceremony  by  a  handful  of  rice,  which  he  picked  up  from  the  platter  and  flung 
now  toward  the  groom  and  now  toward  the  bride.  The  ceremony  went  on  interminablv. 
We  wanted  to  hear  the  conclusion,  but  were  told  that  the  ceremony  would  go  on  for  a  long 
while  ;  indeed,  that  it  would  not  conclude  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  this  was 
only  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  There  would  be  a  recess  after  awhile 
in  the  ceremony,  but  it  would  be  taken  up  again  in  earnest  at  half-past  twelve.  We  enjoyed 
what  we  had  seen,  but  felt  incapacitated  for  six  more  hours  of  wedding  ceremou}-.     Silently 


A    PARSEE   WEDDING   CEREMONY. 

wishing  the  couple  a  happ\-  life  in  each  other's  companionship,  we  pressed  our  wa\-  through 
the  throng  of  congratulatory  Parsees.  All  of  them  seemed  bright  and  appreciative  of  the 
occasion.     The  streets  outside  joyously  sympathized  witli  the  transactions  inside. 

We  rode  on  toward  our  hotel  wishing  that  marriage  in  all  India  might  be  as  much 
honored  as  in  the  ceremony  we  had  that  evening  witnessed  at  the  Parsee  wedding.  The 
Hindoo  women  are  not  so  married.  They  are  simply  cursed  into  the  conjugal  relation.  Many 
of  the  girls  are  married  at  seven  and  ten  years  of  age,  and  some  of  them  are  grandmothers  at 
thirty.  They  can  never  go  forth  into  the  sunlight  with  their  faces  uncovered.  They  must 
stay  at  home.  All  styles  of  maltreatment  are  theirs.  If  they  become  Christians  they  become 
outcasts. 

A  missionary  told  me  in  India  of  a  Hindoo  woman  who  became  a  Christian.  .She 
had  nine  children.  Her  husband  was  over  seventy  years  of  age.  And  yet  at  her 
Christian  baptism  he  told  her  to  go,  and  she  went  out,  homeless.  As  long  as  woman  is 
down,  India  will  be  down.  No  nation  was  ever  elevated  except  through  the  elevation  ot 
woman.  Parsee  marriage  is  an  improvement  on  Hindoo  marriage  ;  but  Christian  marriage 
is  an  improvement  on  Parsee  marriage. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


3^3 


A  fellow-traveler  in  India  told  me  he  had  been  writing  to  his  home  in  England  trying 
to  get  a  law  passed  that  no  white  woman  could  be  legally  married  in  India  until  she  had 
been  there  six  months.  Admirable  law  would  that  be !  If  a  white  woman  saw  what 
married  life  with  a  Hindoo  is  she  would  never  undertake  it.  Off  with  the  thick  and  ugly 
veil  from  woman's  face !  Off  with  the  crushing  burdens  from  her  shoulder  !  Nothing  but 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  will  ever  make  life  in  India  what  it  ought  to  be. 

But  what  an  afternoon  of  contrast  in  Bombay  we  experienced  !  From  the  Temple  of 
Silence  to  the  Temple  of  Hilarity  !  From  the  vultures  to  the  doves  !  From  mourning  to 
laughter!     From  gathering  shadows   to  qleaming  litjhts  !     From  obsequies  to  wedding! 


(■(  1 1, ON  N  A  1 11- — M\II\nr.ESH\VAR. 


But  how  much  of  all  our  lives  is  made  up  of  such  opposites.  I  have  carried  in  the  same 
pocket,  and  read  from  them  in  the  same  hour,  the  liturgy  of  the  dead  and  the  ceremony  of 
espousals.     And  so  the  tear  meets  the  smile,  and  the  dove  meets  the  vulture. 

Thus  I  have  set  before  you  the  best  of  all  religions  of  the  heathen  world,  and  I  have 
done  so  in  order  that  you  might  come  to  higher  appreciation  of  the  glorious  religion  which 
has  put  its  benediction  over  us  and  over  Christendom. 

Compare  the  absurdities  and  mummeries  of  heathen  marriage  with  the  plain,  "  I  will," 
of    Christian    marriage,  the  hands  joined  in  pledge    "  till  death  do  you  part."     Compare 


314 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


the  doctrine  that  the  dead  may  not  l)e  touched,  with  as  sacred,  and  tender,  and  loving  a  kiss 
as  is  ever  given,  the  last  kiss  of  lips  that  never  again  will  speak  to  us.  Compare  the  narrow 
Bridge  Chinvat  over  which  the  departing  Parsee  soul  must  tremblingly  cross,  to  the  wide 
open  gate  of  heaven  through  which  the  departing  Christian  soul  may  triumphantly  enter. 
Compare  the  twenty-one  books  of  the  Zend-Avesta  of  the  Parsee,  which  even  the  scholars  of 
the  earth  despair  of  understanding,  with  our  Bible,  so  much  of  it  as  is  necessar}'  for  our 
salvation  in  language  so  plain  that  "  a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  need  not  err  therein." 
Compare  the  "  Tower  of  Silence  "  with  its  vultures  at  Bombay  with  the  "  Greenwood  of 
Brooklyn  "  with  its  sculptured  angels  of  resurrection.  And  bow  yourself  in  thanksgiving 
and  prayer  as  you  realize  that  if  at  the  battles  of  Marathon  and  Salamis,  Persia  had 
triumphed  over  Greece,  instead  of  Greece  triumphing  over  Persia,  Parseeism,  which  was  the 
national  religion  of  Persia,  might  have  covered  the  earth,  and  j-ou  and  I  instead  of  sitting 
in  the  noonday  light  of  our  glorious  Christianity  might  have  been  groping  in  the  depress- 
ing shadows  of  Parseeism,  a  religion  as  inferior  to  that  which  is  our  inspiration  in  life,  and 
our  hope  in  death,  as  Zoroaster  of  Persia  was  inferior  to  our  radiant  and  superhuman 
Christ,  to  whom  be  honor  and  glory  and  dominion  and  victory  and  song,  world  without  end. 


INSPECTION    DAY    AT   AN    EAST   INDIA    PENITENTIARY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


UNDERSIDE  OF   INDIA. 


Z'    "^  OMETHING  had  we  seen  with  miner's  candle  of  the  underside  of  Australia,  as 
A^^^^\     at  Ginipie  ;  and  something  had  we  seen  at  different  times,  with  guide's  torch,  of 
IL        J      the  underside  of  America,  as  in  Mammoth  Cave  ;  but  we  are  now  to  see  something 
•^  of  the  underside  of  India  as  we  enter  one  of  the  sacred  cellars  of  India,  com- 

monl)-  called  the  Elephanta  Caves.  We  had  it  all  to  ourselves,  the  steam  yacht  that  was  to 
take  us  about  fii'teen  miles  over  the  liarbor  of  Bombay,  and  between  enchanted  islands,  and 
along  shores  whose  curves,  and  gulches,  and  pictured  rocks  gradually  prepare  the  mind  for 
appreciation  of  the  most  unique  spectacle  in  India.  The  morning  had  been  full  of  thunder, 
and  lightning,  and  deluge,  but  the  atmospheric  agitations  had  ceased,  and  the  cloudy  ruins 
of  the  storm  were  piled  up  in  the  heavens,  huge  enough  and  darkly  purple  enough  to  make 
the  skies  as  grandly  picturesque  as  the  earthly  scenery  amid  which  we  moved.  After  an 
hour's  cutting  tlirougli   the  waters  we  came  to  the  long  pier  reaching  from  the  island  called 

Elephanta.  It  is  an  island 
small  of  girth,  but  six  hun- 
dred feet  high.  It  declines 
into  the  marshes  of  man- 
grove. But  the  whole  island 
is  one  tangle  of  foliage  and 
verdure  :  convolvulus  creep- 
ing the  ground,  morasses 
climbing  the  rocks,  vines 
sleeving  the  long  arms  of 
the  trees,  red  flowers  here 
and  there  in  the  woods,  like 
incendiary's  torch  trying  to 
set  the  groves  on  fire,  cactus 
and  acacia  vying  as  to  which 
can  most  charm  the  be- 
holder, tropical  bird  meet- 
ing parti-colored  butterfly 
in  jungles  planted  the  same 
summer  the  world  was  born. 
We  stepped  out  of  the  boat  amid  enough  natives  to  afford  all  the  help  we  needed  for  land- 
n:g  and  guidance.  You  can  be  carried  b}-  coolies  in  an  easy  chair,  or  you  can  walk,  if  vou 
are  blessed  with  two  stout  limbs,  which  the  Psalmist  evidently  lacked,  or  he  would  not 
have  so  depreciated  them,  when  he  said  :  "  The  Lord  taketh  no  pleasure  in  the  legs  of 
a  man."  We  passed  up  some  stone  steps,  and  between  the  walls  we  saw  awaiting  us  a 
gentle  cobra,  one  of  those  snakes  which  greet  the  traveler  at  times  when  he  has  no  time  to 
attend  to  their  courtesies.  Two  of  the  guides  left  the  cobra  dead  by  the  wayside.  They 
must  have  been  Mohammedans,  for  Hindoos  never  kill  that  sacred  reptile. 

(515) 


THE    KXTRANCK   TO   THE    ELKPHAXTA   CAVES. 


316 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


And  now  we  come  near  the  fanioxis  temple,  hewn  from  one  rock  of  porphyry,  at  least 
eight  hundred  years  ago.  On  either  side  of  the  chief  temple  is  a  chapel,  these  cut  out  of 
the  same  stone.  So  vast  was  the  undertaking,  and  to  the  Hindoos  was  so  great  the  human 
impossibility  that  they  say  the  gods  scooped  out  this  structure  from  the  rock,  and  carved 
the  pillars,  and  hewed  into  shape  its  gigantic  idols,  and  dedicated  it  to  all  the  grandeurs. 
We  climb  many  stone  steps  before  we  get  to  the  gateways.  The  entrance  to  this  temple 
has  sculptured  doorkeepers  leaning  on  sculptured  devils.  How  strange  !  But  I  have  seen 
doorkeepers  of  churches  and  auditoriums  who  seemed  to  be  leaning  on  the  devils  of  bad 
ventilation  and  asphyxia.  Doorkeepers  ought  to  be  leaning  on  the  angels  of  health,  and 
comfort,  and  life.  All  the  sextons  and  janitors  of  the  earth  who  have  spoiled  sermons  and 
lectures,  and  poisoned  the  lungs  of  audiences  by  inefficiency'  ought  to  visit  this  cave  of 
Elephanta  and  beware  of  what  these  doorkeepers  are  doing,  when  instead  of  leaning  on  the 
angelic  they  lean  on  the  demoniac.     In  these  Elephanta  Caves  everything  is  on  a  Sam- 

^-r- 1    sonian  and    Titanian  scale. 


HP 

W 

"""'■^f^k 

^   r 

1 
^                   ■■'.'■ 

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V              > 

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'  f(^ 

/         / 

/ 

'  s 

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** 

A   WALI,  INSrnK  THK   ELEPHANTA   CAVES. 


With  chisels  that  were 
dropped  from  nerveless 
hands  at  least  eight  centuries 
ago,  the  forms  of  the  gods 
Hrahma,  and  Vishnu,  and 
Siva  were  cut  into  the  ever- 
lasting rock.  Siva  is  here 
represented  by  a  figure  six- 
teen feet  nine  inches  high, 
one-half  man  and  one-half 
woman.  Run  a  line  from 
the  centre  of  the  forehead 
straight  to  the  floor  of  the 
rock,  and  you  divide  this 
idol  into  masculine  and 
feminine.  Admired  as  this 
idol  is  by  many,  it  was  to  me 
about  the  worst  thing  that 
was  ever  cut  into  porphyry, 
dislike  as  a  being  half  man 
is  admirable,  and  woman  is 
Save  us 


perhaps   because  there  is  hardly  anything  on  earth  I  so  much 

and  half  woman.     Do  be  one  or  the  other,  my  reader.     ]\Ian 

admirable,  but  either  in  flesh  or  trap  rock  a  compromise  of  the  two  is  hideous 

from  effeminate  men  and  masculine  women  ! 

Yonder  is  the  King  Ravana  worshiping.  Yonder  is  the  sculptured  representation 
of  the  marriage  of  Shiva  and  Parhati.  Yonder  is  Daksha,  the  son  of  Brahma,  born  from 
the  thumb  of  his  right  hand.  He  had  sixty  daughters.  How  highly  blessed  he  was! 
Seventeen  of  those  daughters  were  married  to  Kasyapa  and  became  the  mothers  of  the 
human  race.  Yonder  is  a  god  with  three  heads.  The  centre  god  has  a  crown  wound  with 
necklaces  of  skulls.  The  right  hand  god  is  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage,  with  forehead  of  snakes, 
and  in  its  hand  is  a  cobra.  The  left  hand  god  has  pleasure  in  all  its  features  and  the  hand 
holds  a  flower.  But  there  are  gods  and  goddesses  in  all  directions.  The  chief  temple  of 
this  rock  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  square  and  has  twenty-six  pillars  rising  to  the  roof. 
After  the  conquerors  of  other  lands,  and  the  tourists  from  all  lands  have  chipped,  and  defaced. 


(317) 


3i8  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

and  blasted,  and  carried  away  curios  and  mementoes  for  museums  and  homes,  there  art 
enough  entrancements  left  to  detain  one,  unless  he  is  cautious,  until  he  is  down  with  some 
of  the  malarias  which  encompass  this  island,  or  gets  bitten  by  some  of  the  snakes.  Yea,  I 
feel  the  chilly  dampness  of  this  place,  and  must  leave  this  congress  of  gods,  this  pandemo- 
nium of  demons,  this  pantheon  of  Indian  deities,  and  come  to  the  steps  and  look  off  upon 
the  waters  which  roll  and  flash  around  the  steam  yacht  that  is  waiting  to  return  us  to 
Bombay.  As  we  stepped  aboard,  our  mind  filled  with  the  idols  of  the  Elephanta  Caves,  I 
was  impressed  as  never  before  with  the  thought  that  man  must  have  a  religion  of  some 
kind,  even  if  he  has  to  contrive  one  himself,  and  he  must  have  a  god,  even  though  he  make 
it  with  his  own  hand.  I  rejoice  to  know  the  day  will  come  when  the  one  God  of  the 
universe  will  be  acknowledged  throughout  India. 

That  evening  of  our  return  to  Bombay  I  visited  the  Young  Men's  Christian  A.ssociation 
with  the  same  appointments  that  you  find  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of 
Europe  and  America,  and  the  night  after  that  I  addressed  a  throng  of  native  children  who 
are  in  the  schools  of  the  Christian  missions.  Christian  universities  gather  under  their  wine 
of  benediction  a  host  of  the  young  men  of  this  country.  Bombay  and  Calcutta,  the  two 
great  commercial  cities  of  India,  feel  the  elevating  power  of  an  aggressive  Christianity. 
Episcopalian  liturgy,  and  Presbyterian  Westminster  Catechism,  and  Methodist  anxious-seat, 
and  Baptist  waters  of  consecration  now  stand  where  once  basest  idolatries  had  undisputed 
sway.  The  work  which  shoemaker  Care\-  inaugurated  at  Serampore,  India,  translating  the 
Bible  into  forty  different  dialects,  and  leaving  his  worn-out  body  amid  the  nati\'es  whom  he 
had  come  to  save,  and  going  up  into  the  heavens  from  which  he  can  better  watch  all  the 
field — that  work  will  be  completed  in  the  salvation  of  the  millions  of  India :  and  beside 
him,  gazing  from  the  same  high  places,  stand  Bishop  Heber,  and  .■Mexander  Duff,  and  John 
Scudder,  and  Mackay,  who  fell  at  Delhi,  and  Moncrieff,  who  fell  at  Cawnpore,  and  Pole- 
hampton,  who  fell  at  Luckuow,  and  Freeman,  who  fell  at  Futtyghur,  and  all  heroes  and 
heroines  who,  for  Christ's  sake,  lived  and  died  for  the  Christianization  of  India  :  and  their 
heaven  will  not  be  complete  until  the  Ganges  that  washes  the  ghats  of  heathen  temples 
shall  roll  between  churches  of  the  living  God,  and  the  trampled  womanhood  of  Hindooisra 
shall  have  all  the  rights  purchased  by  Him,  who  amid  the  cuts  and  stabs  of  His  own  assassina- 
tion, cried  out  :  "  Behold  thy  mother  !  "  and  from  Bengal  Bay  to  Arabian  Ocean,  and  from 
the  Himalayas  to  the  coast  of  Coromandel  there  be  lifted  hosannas  to  Him  who  died  to 
redeem  all  nations.  In  that  day  Elephanta  Cave  will  be  one  of  the  places  where  idols  are 
"cast  to  the  moles  and  the  bats."  If  any  clergyman  asks  me,  as  an  unbelieving  minister  of 
religion  once  asked  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  "  Do  you  not  think  that  the  work  of  convert- 
ing the  Hindoos  is  all  a  fanatical  farce?"  I  answer  him  as  Wellington  answered  the  unbe- 
lieving minister  :  "  Look  to  your  marching  orders,  sir  !  "  Or  if  any  one  having  joined  in  the 
Gospel  attack  feels  like  retreating,  I  say  to  him,  as  General  Havelock  said  to  a  retreating 
regiment,  "  The  enemy  are  in  front,  not  in  the  rear,"  and  leading  them  again  into  the  fight, 
though  two  horses  had  been  shot  under  him. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 


THE  PYRAMID. 


v^y  ▼  E  had  on  a  bright  and  beantiful  morning  landed  in  Africa.  Amid  the  howling 
/  I  I  boatmen  at  Alexandria  we  had  come  ashore  and  taken  the  rail  train  for  Cairo, 
»^  Y  J  Egypt,  along  the  banks  of  the  most  thoronghly  harnessed  river  of  all  the  world 
^  — the  river  Nile.  We  had,  at  even-tide,  entered  the  city  of  Cairo,  the  city  where 
Christ  dwelt  while  staying  in  Eg>'pt  during  the  Herodic  persecution.  It  was  our  first  night 
in  Egypt.  No  destroying  angel  sweeping  through,  as  once,  but  all  the  stars  were  out,  and 
the  skies  were  filled  with  angels  of  beaut}-  and  angels  of  light,  and  the  air  was  as  balmy  as 
an  American  June.  The  ne.xt  morning  we  were  early  awake  and  at  the  window,  looking 
upon  palm  trees  in  full  glory  of  leafage,  and  upon  gardens  of  fruits  and  flowers  at  the  very 
season  when  our  homes  far  away  are  canopied  by  bleak  skies  and  the  last  leaf  of  the  forest 
has  gone  down  in  the  equi- 
noctials. But  how  can  I 
describe  the  thrill  of  ex- 
pectation, for  to-day  we 
are  to  see  what  all  the 
w'orld  has  seen  or  wants 
to  see — the  P}-ramids !  We 
are  mounted  for  an  hour 
and  a  half's  ride.  We  pass 
on  amid  bazaars  stuffed 
with  rugs  and  carpets,  and 
curious  fabrics  of  all  sorts 
from  Smyrna,  from  Al- 
giers, from  Persia,  from 
Turkey,  and  through 
streets  where  we  meet 
people  of  all  colors  and  all 
garbs,  carts  loaded  with 
garden    productions, 

priests  in  gowns,  women  in  black  veils.  Bedouins  in  long  and  seemingh-  superfluous  apparel. 
Janissaries  in  jacket  of  embroidered  gold — out  and  on  toward  the  Great  Pyramid  ;  for  though 
there  are  sixty-nine  pyramids  still  standing,  the  pyramid  at  Gizeh  is  the  monarch  of  pyramids. 
We  meet  camels  grunting  under  their  load,  and  see  buffaloes  on  either  side,  browsing  in  pasture 
fields.  The  road  we  travel  is  for  part  of  the  way  tinder  clumps  of  acacia,  and  by  long  rows 
of  sycamore  and  tamarisk,  but  after  a  while  it  is  a  path  of  rock  and  sand,  and  we  find  we 
have  reached  the  margin  of  the  desert,  the  great  gloomy  desert,  and  we  cry  out  to  the  drago- 
man as  we  see  a  huge  pile  of  rock  looming  in  sight:  "Dragoman,  what  is  that?"-  His 
answer  is,  "  The  Pyramid,"  and  then  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  living  a  century  every  minute. 
Our  thoughts  and  emotions  were  too  rapid  and  intense   for  utterance,  and   we  ride  on  in 


320 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


silence  until  we  coine  to  the  foot  of  tlie  p\  ramid  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  the  oldest  structure 
in  all  the  eartli,  four  thousand  years  old  at  least.  Here  it  is.  We  stand  under  the  shadow 
of  a  structure  that  shuts  out  all  the  earth  and  all  the  sky,  and  we  look  up  and  strain  our 
vision  to  appreciate  the  distant  top,  and  are  overwhelmed  while  we  cry,  "  The  Pyramid  ! 
The  Pyramid  !  " 

I  had  started  that  morning  with  the  determination  of  ascending  the  pyramid.  One  of 
my  chief  objects  in  going  to  Egypt  was  not  only  to  see  the  base  of  that  granitic  wonder,  but 
to  stand  on  the  top  of  it.     Yet  the  nearer  I  came  to  this  eternity  in  stone  the  more  my 


THE    PORT   OF    ISMAILIA,     OX     1  1 1 1     sri,/    i.  \N\I.. 

■determination  was  shaken.  Its  altitude  to  me  was  simply  appalling.  A  great  height  has 
always  been  to  me  a  most  disagreeable  sensation.  As  we  dismounted  at  the  base  of  the  p>ra- 
mid  I  said,  "  Others  ma\-  go  up  it,  but  not  I.  I  will  satisfy  myself  with  a  view  from  the  base. 
The  ascent  of  it  would  be  to  me  a  foolhardy  undertaking."  But  after  I  had  given  up  all 
idea  of  ascending,  I  found  my  daughter  was  determined  to  go,  and  I  could  not  let  her  go 
with  .strangers,  and  I  changed  my  mind  and  we  started  with  guides.  It  cannot  be  done 
■without  these  helpers.  Two  or  three  times  foolhardy  men  have  attempted  it  alone,  but 
their  bodies  came  tumbling  down  unrecognizable  and  lifeless.  Each  person  in  our  party 
iiad  two  or  three  guides  or  helpers.     One  of  tliem  unrolled  his  turban  and  tied  it  around  my 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


321 


waist,  and  lie  held  the  other  end  of  the  turban  as  a  matter  of  safety.  Many  of  the  blocks 
of  stone  are  four  or  five  feet  high  and  beyond  any  ordinary  human  stride  unless  assisted. 
But,  two  Arabs  to  pull  and  two  Arabs  to  push,  I  found  myself  rapidly  ascending  from  height 
to  heiglit,  and  on,  to  altitudes  terrific,  and  at  last  at  the  tip  top  we  found  ourselves  on  a 
level  space  of  about  thirty  feet  square.  Through  clearest  atmosphere  we  looked  off  upon 
the  desert,  and  the  Sphinx  with  its  features  of  everlasting  stone,  and  yonder  upon  the  min- 
arets of  Cairo  glittering  in  the  sun,  and  yonder  upon  Memphis  in  ruins,  and  off"  upon  the 
wreck  of  empires  and  the  battlefields  of  ages,  a  radius  of  view  enough  to  fill  the  mind  and 
overwhelm  one's  entire  being. 

After  looking  around  for  a  while,  and  a  kodak  had  pictured  the  group,  we  descended. 
The  descent  was  more  trying  than  the  ascent,  for  climbing  you  need  not  see  the  depths 
beneath,  but  coming  down  it  was  impossible  not  to  see  the  abysms  below.  But  two  Arabs 
ahead  to  help  us  down, 
and  two  Arabs  to  hold 
us  back,  we  were  low- 
ered, hand  below  hand, 
until  the  ground  was 
invitingly  near,  and 
amid  the  jargon  of  the 
Arabs  we  were  safely 
landed. 

I  said  the  domi- 
nant color  of  the  pyra- 
mid was  gray,  but  in 
certain  lights  it  seems 
to  shake  off  the  gray  of 
centuries  and  become 
a  blonde,  and  the  silver 
turns  to  the  golden.  It 
covers  thirteen  acres  of 
ground.  What  an  an- 
tiquity !  It  was  at  least 
two  thousand  }ears  old 
when  the  baby  Christ 
was    carried    within 

sight  of  it  by  His  fugitive  parents,  Joseph  and  Mary.  The  storms  of  forty  centuries  have 
drenched  it,  bombarded  it,  shadowed  it,  flashed  upon  it,  but  there  it  stands  ready  to  take 
another  forty  centuries  of  atmospheric  attack  if  the  world  should  continue  to  exist. 
The  oldest  buildings  of  the  earth  are  juniors  to  this  great  senior  of  the  centuries. 
Herodotus  says  that  for  ten  \ears  preparations  were  being  made  for  the  building  of  this 
pyramid.  It  has  eighty-two  million  one  hundred  and  ele\-en  thousand  cubic  feet  of 
masonry.  One  hundred  thousand  workmen  at  one  time  toiled  in  its  erection.  To 
bring  the  stone  from  the  quarries  a  causeway  sixty  feet  wide  was  built.  Tlie  top  stones 
were  lifted  by  machinery  such  as  the  world  knows  nothing  of  to-day.  It  is  seven  hundred 
and  forty-six  feet  each  side  of  the  square  base.  Tlie  structure  is  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  high,  higher  tlian  tlie  cathedrals  of  Cologne,  Strasburg,  Rouen,  St.  Peter's  and  St. 
Paul's.     No  surprise  to  me  that  it  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World. 


GREAT   P\'RAMID — SPHINX. 


32a 


TflE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


It  has  a  subterraneous  room  of  red  tjranite  called  the  "  Kinj^'s  Chamber,"  and  another  room 
called  the  "  Queen's  Chamber,"  and  the  probability  is  that  there  are  other  rooms  yet  unex- 
plored. The  evident  design  of  the  architect  was  to  make  these  rooms  as  inaccessible  as 
possible.  After  all  the  work  of  exploration  and  all  the  digging  and  blasting,  if  you  would 
enter  these  subterraneous  rooms  you  must  go  through  a  passage  only  three  feet  eleven 
inches  high  and  less  than  four  feet  wide.  A  sarcophagus  of  red  granite  stands  down  under 
this  mountain  of  masonr\'.  The  sarcophagus  could  not  have  been  carried  in  after  the  pyra- 
mid was  built.  It  must  have  been  put  there  before  the  structure  was  reared.  Probably  in 
that  sarcophagus  once  lay  a  wooden  coffin  containing  a  dead  king,  but  time  has  destroyed 
the  coffin  and  destroyed  the  last  vestige  of  human  remains. 

I  wonder  not  tliat  this  mountain  of  limestone  and  red  granite  has  been  the  fascination 
of  scholars,    ot    scientists,   of    intelligent   Christians   in   all   ages.      Sir  John    Herschel,    the 

astronomer,  said 
he  thought  it  had 
astronomical  sig- 
nificance. The 
wise  men  who  ac- 
companied Napo- 
leon's army  into 
Egypt  went  into 
profound  study  of 
the  pyramid.  In 
1865  Professor 
Smyth  and  his 
wife  lived  in  the 
empty  tombs  near 
by  the  pyramid 
that  they  might  be 
as  continuously  as 
possible  close  to 
the  pyramid, 
which  they  were 
investigating. 
The  p\raniid, 
built  more  than 
,  four  thousand 
concluded  it  must 
\ears    to  fine  arclii- 


I'OMPHV  S    PILLAR.     ALRXANnRL\. 


years  ago,  being  a  complete  geometrical  figure,  wise  men  have 
have  been  divinely  constructed.  Alan  came  through  thousands  of 
tecture,  to  music,  to  painting,  bi\t  this  was  perfect  at  the  world's  start,  and  God  must 
have  directed  it.  All  astronomers  and  geometricians  and  scientists  say  that  it  was 
scientifically  and  mathematically  constructed  before  science  and  mathematics  were  born. 
From  the  inscriptions  on  the  pyramid,  from  its  proportions,  from  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass recognized  in  its  structure,  from  the  direction  in  which  its  tunnels  run,  from  the 
relative  position  of  the  blocks  that  compose  it,  scientists,  Christians  and  infidels  have 
demonstrated  tiiat  the  being  who  planned  this  pyramid  must  have  known  the  world's 
sphericity,  and  that  its  motion  was  rotatory,  and  how  many  miles  it  was  in  diameter  and 
zircumterence,    and    how   man\'    tons    the   world   weighs,  and    knew    at  what    point  in    the 


324 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


heavens  certain  stars  would  appear  at  certain  periods  of  time.  Not  in  the  four  thousand 
years  since  the  putting  up  of  that  pyramid  has  a  single  fact  in  astronomy  or  mathematics 
been  found  to  contradict  the  wisdom  of  that  structure.  Yet  they  had  not  at  the  age  when 
the  pyramid  was  started  an  astronomer  or  an  architect  or  a  mathematician  worth  mention- 
ing. Who  then  planned  the  pyramid  ?  Who  superintended  its  erection  ?  Who  from  its 
first  foundation  stone  to  its  capstone  erected  everything?  It  must  have  been  God.  Isaiah 
was  right  wlien  he  said  :  "  A  pillar  shall  be  at  the  border  of  the  land  of  Egypt  and  it  shall 
be  for  a  sign  and  a  witness."  The  pyramid  is  God's  first  Bible.  Hundreds,  if  not  thousands, 
of  years,  before  the  first  line  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  was  written,  the  lesson  of  the  pyramid 
was  written. 

Well,  of  what  is  this  Cyclopean  masonry  a  sign  and  a  witness?  Among  other  things, 
of  the  prolongation  of  human  work  compared  with  the  brevity  of  human  life.  In  all  the 
four  thousand  years  this  pyramid  has  lost  only  eighteen  feet  in  width,  one  side  of  its  square 
at  the  base  changed  only  from  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  to  seven  hundred  and  forty- 
six  feet,  and  the  most  of  that  eighteen  feet  taken  off  by  architects  to  furnish  stone  for  build- 
ing in  the  city  of  Cairo.  The 
men  who  constructed  the 
pyramid  worked  at  it  onh'  a 
few  years  and  then  put  down 
the  trowel  and  the  compass 
and  the  square,  and  lowered 
the  derrick  which  had  lifted 
the  ponderous  weights  ;  but 
forty  centuries  has  their  work 
stood,  and  it  will  be  good  for 
forty  centuries  more.  All 
Egypt  has  been  shaken  by 
terrible  earthquakes  and 
cities  have  been  prostrated 
or  swallowed,  but  that  pyra- 
mid has  defied  all  volcanic 
paroxysms.  It  has  looked 
upon  some  of  the  greatest  battles  ever  fought  since  the  world  stood.  Where  are  the  men 
who  constructed  it?  Their  bodies  gone  to  dust  and  even  the  dust  scattered.  Even  the 
sarcophagus  in  which  the  king's  nnnnmy  may  have  slept  is  empt\-. 

So  men  die  but  their  work  lives  on.  We  are  all  building  pyramids,  not  to  last  four 
thousand  years,  but  forty  thousand,  forty  million,  forty  trillion,  forty  quadrillion,  forty  quiu- 
tillion.  For  a  while  we  wield  the  trowel,  or  pound  with  the  hammer,  or  measure  with  the 
yardstick,  or  write  with  the  pen,  or  expei-iment  with  the  scientific  battery,  or  plan  with  the 
brain,  and  for  a  while  the  foot  walks  and  the  eye  sees,  and  the  ear  hears  and  the  tongue 
speaks.  All  the  good  words  oi  bad  words  we  speak  are  spread  out  into  one  layer  for  a  pyra- 
mid. All  the  kind  deeds  or  malevolent  deeds  we  do  are  spread  out  into  another  layer.  All 
the  Christian  or  unchristian  example  we  set  is  spread  out  in  another  layer.  All  the  indirect 
influences  of  our  lives  arc  spread  out  in  another  layer.  Then  the  time  soon  comes  when  we 
put  down  the  implement  of  toil  and  pass  away,  but  the  pyramid  stands.  The  twentieth 
century  will  not  rock  it  down,  nor  the  thirtieth  century  nor  the  one  hundredth  century. 
The  earthquake  that  rocks  this  world  to  pieces  will  not  stop  our  influence  for  good  or  evil. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


325 


You  modestly  say,  "  That  is  true  in  regard  to  the  great  workers  for  good  or  evil,  and  of 
gigantic  geniuses,  Miltonian,  or  Talleyrandian,  but  not  of  me,  for  I  live  and  work  on  a 
small  scale."  My  reader,  remember  that  those  who  built  the  pyramids  were  common 
workmen.  Not  one  of  them  conld  lift  one  of  those  great  stones.  It  took  a  dozen  of  them 
to  lift  one  stone,  and  others  just  wielded  a  trowel,  clicking  it  on  the  hard  edge  or  smoothing 
the  mortar  between  the  la\ers.  One  hundred  thousand  men  toiled  on  those  sublime  elt\-a- 
tions.  Cheops  did  not  build  the  pyramid.  Some  master  mason  in  the  world's  twilight  did  not 
build  the  pyramid.  One  hundred  thousand  men  built  it,  and  perhaps  from  first  to  last  two 
liundred  thousand  men.  So  witli  the  pyramids  now  rising,  pyramids  of  evil  or  p}-ramids  of 
good.  The  pyramid  of  drunken- 
ness rising  ever  since  the  time 
when  Noah  got  drunk  on  wine, 
although  there  was  at  his  time 
such  a  superabundance  of  water. 
All  the  saloonists  of  the  ages  add- 
ing their  layers  of  ale  casks  and 
wine  pitchers  and  rum  jugs  until 
the  pyramid  overshadows  the 
Great  Sahara  Desert  of  desolated 
homes,  and  broken  hearts  and 
destroyed  eternities.  And  as  the 
pyramid  still  rises,  layers  of 
human  skulls  piled  on  top  of 
human  skulls  and  other  moun- 
tains of  human  bones  to  whiten 
the  peaks  reaching  unto  the 
heavens,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  people  are  building  that  pyra- 
mid. So  with  the  pyramid  of 
righteousness.  Multitudes  of 
hands  are  toiling  on  the  steeps, 
hands  infantile,  hands  octoge- 
narian, masculine  hands,  female 
hands,  strong  hands,  weak  hands. 
Some  clanging  a  trowel,  some 
pulling  a  rope,  some  measuring 
the  sides.  Layers  of  jxsalni  books 
on  top  of  layers  of  sermons.  Layers  of  prayers  on  top  of  layers  of  holy  sacrifice.  And 
hundreds  of  thousands  coming  down  to  sleep  their  last  sleep,  but  other  hundreds  of 
thousands  going  up  to  take  their  places,  and  the  pyramids  will  continue  to  rise  until  the 
millennial  morning  gilds  the  completed  work,  and  the  toilers  on  these  heights  shall  take 
off  their  aprons  and  throw  down  their  trowels,  crying,  "  It  is  finished." 

Your  business  and  mine  is  not  to  build  a  pyramid,  but  to  be  one  of  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  shall  ring  a  trowel,  or  pull  a  rope,  or  turn  the  crank  of  a  derrick,  or  cry 
"  vo  heave  !  "  wliile  lifting  another  block  to  its  elevation.     Though  it  be  seeminelv  a  small 


DR.    TALMAGE   ON   Till-;    SIMMIT   OF   THE   GREAT   PYRAMID, 


work  and  a  brief  work. 


a  work    that   shall   last    forever.      In   the  last  dav 


mauA- 


a  man 


and  woman  whose  work  has  never  been   recognized    on   earth  will  come  to  a  special  honor. 


326 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


I  rejoice  that  all  the  thousands  who  have  been  toiling  on  the  pyramid  of  righteousness  will 
at  last  be  recognized  and  rewarded — the  mother  who  brought  her  children  to  Christ,  the 
Sabbath  teacher  wlio  brought  her  class  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  the  unpretending 
man  who  saved  a  soul.  Then  the  trowel  will  be  more  honored  than  the  sceptre.  As  a 
great  battle  was  going  on  the  soldiers  were  ordered  to  the  front  and  a  sick  man  jumped  out 
of  an  ambulance  in  which  he  was  being  carried  'to  the  hospital.  The  surgeon  asked  him 
what  he  meant  by  getting  out  of  the  ambulance  when  he  was  sick  and  almost  ready  to  die. 
The  soldier  answered,  "  Doctor,  I  am  going  to  the  front ;  I  would  rather  die  on  the  field 
than  die  in  an  ambulance."     Thank  God,  if  we  cannot  do  much  we  can  do  a  little. 


■    ■'  -      I 

-"    ~        >■,   -  ■.-.'..     "     ' 


*       A*. 

•^      ,'-.' 

VI 

'    —  T.*                   .- 

^,'^--.    .■■ 

Jl      . 

Jt 

-        -      -ii. 

«._   . 

.>,,   ,T*<v-":*~ 

,:>■  ^:fc%te^ 

■< 


_j^      d    !.      *:^'\'^\ 


The  pyramid  i^  a  sign  and  a  witness  that  big  tombstones  are  not  the  best  way  of  keep- 
ing one's  self  affectionately  remembered.  This  pyramid  and  sixty-nine  other  pyramids  still 
standing  were  built  for  sepulchres,  all  this  great  pile  of  granite  and  limestone  by  which  we 
stand  to-da\-,  to  cover  the  memory  of  a  dead  king.  It  was  the  great  Westminster  Abbey  of 
the  ancients.  Some  .say  that  Cheops  was  the  king  who  built  this  pyramid,  but  it  is  uncer- 
tain. Who,  pray,  was  Cheops  ?  All  that  the  world  knows  about  him  could  be  told  in  a 
few  sentences.  The  only  thing  certain  is  that  he  was  bad  and  that  he  shut  up  the  temples 
of  worship,  and  that  he  was  hated  so  that  the  Egyptians  were  glad  when  he  was  dead. 
This  pyramid  of  rock  seven  hundred  and  forty  feet  each  side  of  the  square  base,  and  four 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  wins  for  him  no  respect.     If  a  bone  of  his  arm  or  foot  had  been 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


327 


found  ill  t!ie  sarcophagus  beneath  the  pyramid,  it  would  have  excited  no  more  veneration 
than  the  skeleton  of  a  camel  bleaching  on  the  Libyan  desert ;  yea,  less  veneration,  for  when 
I  saw  the  carcass  of  a  camel  by  the  roadside  on  the  way  to  Memphis,  I  said  to  myself, "  Poor 
tiling,  I  wonder  of  what  it  died."  We  say  nothing  against  the  marble  or  the  bronze  of  the 
necropolis.  Let  all  that  sculpture  and  florescence  and  arborescence  can  do  for  the  places  of 
the  dead  be  done,  if  means  will  allow  it.  Hut  if  after  one  is  dead  there  is  nothing  left  to 
reuiiud  the  world  of  him  but  some  pieces  of  .stone,  there  is  but  little  left.  vSome  of  the 
finest  monuments  are  over  people  who  amounted  to  nothing  while  they  lived,  while  some  of 
the  worthiest  men  and  women  have  not  had  above  them  a  stone  big  enough  to  tell  their  name. 


LAKl'!    \1-.M".I<^ 


Joshua,  the  greatest  warrior  the  world  ever  saw,  no  monument  ;  ]\Ioses,  the  greatest  lawyer 
that  ever  lived,  no  niontiment ;  Paul,  the  greatest  preacher  that  ever  lived,  no  monument ; 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world  and  the  rapture  of  heaven,  no  monument.  A  pyramid 
over  scoundrelly  Cheops,  but  only  a  shingle  with  a  lead  pencil  epitaph  over  many  a  good 
man's  grave.  Some  of  the  finest  obituaries  have  been  printed  about  the  worst  rascals.  To- 
<lay  at  Brussels  there  is  a  pyramid  of  flowers  on  the  grave  of  Roulanger,  the  notorious 
libertine.      Yet  it  is  natural  to  want  to  be  remembered. 

While  there  seems  to  he  no  practical  use  for  post-mortem    consideration   later  than  the 
time  of  one's  great  grand-children,  yet  no  one  wants  to  be  forgotten  as  soon  as  the  obsequies 


128 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


are  over.  Tliis  pyramid,  which  Isaiah  says  is  a  sign  and  a  witness,  demonstrates  that 
neither  limestone  nor  red  granite  are  competent  to  keep  one  affectionately  remembered  ; 
neither  can  bronze  ;  neither  can  Parian  marble  ;  neither  can  Aberdeen  granite  do  the  work. 
Bnt  there  is  something  ont  of  which  to  build  an  everlasting  monument  and  that  will  keep 
one  freshly  remembered  four  thousand  years ;  yea,  for  ever  and  ever.  It  does  not  stand  in 
marble  yards.  It  is  not  to  be  purchased  at  mourning  stores.  Yet  it  is  to  be  found  in  every 
neighborhood,  plenty  of  it,  inexhaustible  quantities  of  it.  It  is  the  greatest  stuff  in  the 
universe  to  build  monuments  out  of  I  refer  to  the  memories  of  those  to  whom  we  can  do  a 
kindness,  the  memories  of  those  whose  struggles  we  may  alleviate,  the  memories  of  those 
whose  souls  we  may  save.  All  around  Cairo  and  Memphis  there  are  the  remains  of  pyramids 
that  have  gone  down  under  the  wearing  away  of  time,  and  the  Great  Pyramid,  of  which  Isaiah 

speaks,  will  vanish  if  the 
world  lasts  long  enough  ;  and 
if  the  world  does  not  last, 
then  with  the  earth's  dissolu- 
tion the  pyramid  will  also  dis- 
solve. But  the  memories  of 
those  with  whom  we  asso- 
ciate are  indestructible.  They 
will  be  more  vivid  the  other 
aide  of  the  grave  than  this 
side.  It  is  possible  for  me  to 
do  you  a  good  and  for  you 
to  do  me  a  good  that  will  be 
vivid  in  memory  as  man\' 
years  after  the  world  is  burned 
up  as  all  the  sands  of  the  sea- 
shore, and  all  the  leaves  of  the 
forest,  and  all  the  grass  blades 
of  the  field,  and  all  the  stars 
of  heaven  added  together,  and 
that  aggregate  multiplied  by 
all  the  figures  that  all  the 
bookkeepers  of  all  time  ever 
wrote.  That  desire  to  be  re- 
membered after  we  are  gone  is  a  divinely  implanted  desire  and  not  to  be  crushed  out,  but, 
I  implore  you,  seek  something  better  than  the  immortalization  of  rock,  or  bronze,  or 
book.  Put  yourself  into  the  eternity  of  those  whom  \-ou  help  for  both  worlds,  this 
and  the  next.  Comfort  a  hundred  souls  and  there  will  be  through  all  the  cycles  of  eternity 
at  least  a  hundred  souls  that  will  be  your  monuments.  A  prominent  member  of  my 
church  was  brought  to  God  by  some  one  saying  to  her  at  the  church  door  at  the  close 
of  service,  "  Come  again  !  "  Will  it  be  possible  for  that  one  so  invited  to  forget  the  inviter? 
A  minister  passing  along  the  street  every  da}-  looked  up  and  smiled  to  a  baby  in  the  win- 
dow. The  father  and  mother  wondered  who  it  was  that  thus  pleasantly  greeted  their  child. 
They  found  out  that  he  was  a  pastor  of  a  church.  They  said,  "  We  must  go  and  hear  him 
preach."  They  went  and  heard  him  and  both  were  converted  to  God.  Will  there  be  any 
power    in    fifty    million    years    to    erase    from    the  souls  of  those  parents  the  memory  of 


INTERIOR    OF   THE   TEMPLE   DENDERAH. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


329 


that  mail  wlio  by  his  friendliness  brought  them  to  God  ?  ]\Iatthew  Cranswick,  an  evange- 
list, said  that  he  had  the  names  of  two  hnndred  souls  saved  through  his  singing  the  hymn, 
"  Arise,  my  soul,  arise  !  "  Will  any  of  those  two  hundred  souls  in  all  eternity  forget 
Matthew  Cranswick  ?  Will  any  of  the  four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  women  and  children 
imprisoned  at  Lucknow,  India,  waiting  for  massacre  by  the  Sepoys,  forget  Havelock  and 
Outram,  and  Sir  David  Beard,  who  broke  in  and  effected  their  rescue  ?  To  some  of  you  who 
have  loved  and  served  the  Lord,  heaven  will  be  a  great  picture  gallery  of  remembrance. 
Hosts  of  the  glorified  will  never  forget  you.  Ah,  that  is  a  way  of  building  monuments  that 
will  never  feel  the  touch  of  decay.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  suppress  this  natural  desire  of  being 
remembered  after  you  are  gone,  but  I  only  want  you  to  put  your  memorials  into  a  shape 
that  will  never  weaken  nor  fade.      During  the  course  of  m\-  niiinstr\-  I  have  been  intimately 


-■imiMA 


"."*  J 


UiM^'' 


TEMPI.HS   OF    I.EXOR    VRim    THK    NTI.E. 


associated  in  Christian  work  with  hundreds  of  good  men  and  women.  Mv  memorv  is  huno- 
with  their  portraits  more  accurate  and  vivid  than  anything  that  Rembrandt  ever  put  on 
canvas: — Father  Grice,  DeWitt  C.  Moore,  Father  Voorhees,  E.  P.  Hopkins,  William 
Stephens,  John  \'an  Rensselaer,  Gasherie  DeWitt,  Dr.  Ward,  and  hundreds  of  others,  all  of 
them  gone  out  of  this  life,  but  I  hold  the  memory  of  them  and  shall  hold  them  forever. 
They  cannot  escape  from  me.  I  shall  remember  them  just  as  they  looked  on  earth,  and  I 
shall  remember  many  more  after  the  earth  has  been  an  e.xtiuct  planet  for  ages  infinite. 
Oh,  what  stuff  the  memory  is  for  monument  building! 

As  in  Eg}-pt  that  beautiful  afternoon,  exhausted  in  body,  mind,  and  soul,  we 
-mounted  to  return  to  Cairo,  we  took  our  last  look  of  the  Pyramid  at  Gizeh.  And  you  know 
there  is  something  in  the  air   toward  evening  that  seems  productive  of  solemn  and  tender 


330  THE    EARTH    GIRDLED. 

emotion,  and  tlmt  great  pyramid  seemed  to  be  liuiiiani/.ed,  and  with  lips  of  stone  it  seemed 
to  speak  and  cry  out  :  "  Hear  me,  man,  mortal  and  immortal  !  My  voice  is  the  voice  of 
God.  He  designed  me.  Isaiah  said  I  should  be  a  sign  and  a  witness.  I  .saw  Moses  when 
he  was  a  lad.  I  witnessed  the  long  procession  of  the  Israelites  as  they  started  to  cross  the 
Red  Sea  and  Pharaoh's  host  in  pursuit  of  them.  The  falcons  and  the  eagles  of  many  cen- 
turies have  brushed  my  brow.  I  stood  here  when  Cleopatra's  barge  landed  with  her  sorceries, 
and  H\-patia  for  her  virtues  was  slain  in  y(.)nder  streets.  Alexander  the  (neat,  Sesostris 
and  Ptolemy  admired  my  proportions.  Herodotus  and  Pliny  sounded  my  praise.  I  am  old, 
I  am  ver\-  old.  P'or  thousands  of  years  I  ha\-e  watched  the  coming  and  going  of  genera- 
tions. They  tarry  only  a  little  while,  but  they  make  everlasting  impression.  I  liear  on  luv 
side  the  mark  of  the  trowel  and  chisel  of  tho.se  who  more  than  four  thousand  \ears  ago 
expired.  Beware  what  )ou  do,  O  man  !  for  what  you  do  will  last  long  after  you  are  dead  ! 
If  you  would  be  affectionately  remembered  after  you  are  gone,  trust  not  to  anv  earthly  com- 
memoration. I  have  not  one  word  to  sa\-  about  any  astronomer  who  studied  the  heavens 
from  my  heights,  or  any  king  who  was  sepulchred  in  m\'  bosom.  I  am  slowh'  passing 
awa)-.  I  am  a  d\-ing  pyramid.  I  sliall  \-et  lie  down  in  the  dust  of  the  plain,  and  the  sands 
of  the  desert  shall  cover  me,  or  when  the  earth  goes  I  shall  go.  But  yoti  are  immortal. 
The  feet  with  which  you  climbed  my  sides  to-da>-  will  turn  to  dust,  but  )ou  ha\e  a  .'oul 
that  will  outlast  me  and  all  my  brotherhood  of  p\ramids.  Li\-e  for  cternit\-  !  Live  for 
God  !  With  the  shadows  of  the  evening  now  falling  from  m\-  side,  I  pronounce  upon  you 
a  benediction.  Take  it  with  yon  across  the  Mediterranean.  Take  it  with  you  across  the 
Atlantic.  God  onh-  is  great !  Let  all  the  earth  keep  silence  before  Him.  Amen."  And 
then  the  lips  of  granite  hushed,  and  the  great  giant  of  masonry  wrapped  himself  again  in 
the  silence  of  ages,  and  as  I  rode  awa\'  in  the  gathering  twilight,  my  thoughts  ran  with  the 
poet's  : 

"Wondrous  P^gypt  !   Land  of  ancient  pomp  and  pride, 
Where  Beauty  walks  by  hoary  Ruin'.s  side, 
Where  plenty  reigns  and  still  the  .seasons  smile, 
And  rolls — rich  gift  of  God — exhaustless  Nile." 


CHAPTER  XXXVr. 


THE  ARTERY  OF  EGYPT. 


HA  !  This  is  the  river  Nile.  A  brown,  or  yellow,  or  sil\-er  cord  on  which  are 
hung  more  jewels  of  thrilling  interest  than  on  any  river  that  was  ever  twisted 
in  the  sunshine.  It  ripples  through  the  book  of  Ezekiel,  and  flashes  in  the 
books  of  Deuteronomy  and  Isaiah  and  Zechariah  and  Nahum,  and  on  ils  banks 
stood  the  mightiest  of  many  ages.  It  was  the  crystal  cradle  of  Moses,  and  on  its  banks, 
Marv,  the  refugee,  carried  the  iufant  Jesus.  To  find  the  birthplace  of  this  river  was  the 
fascination  and  defeat  of  expeditions  without  number.  Mot  manv  years  ago,  Ba\arcl  Tavlor, 
our  great  American  tra\'eler,  wrote  :  "  Since  Colnmbus  first  looked  upon  San  Salvador,  the 
eartii  has  but  one  emotion  of  triumph  left  for  her  bestowal,  and  that  slie  reserves  for  him 
who  shall  first  drink  from  the  fountains  of  the  White  Nile  under  the  snow  fields  of  Kili- 
manjaro." Rut  the  discovery  of  the  sources  of  the  Nile  by  most  people  was  considered  an 
impossibilit\-.  The  malarias,  the  wild  beasts,  the  savages,  the  unclimbable  steeps,  the  vast 
distances,  stopped  all  the  expeditions  for  ages.  An  intelligent  native  said  to  Sir  Samuel  W. 
Baker  and  wife  as  they  were  on  their  way  to  accomplish  tliat  in  which  others  had  failed  : 
"  Give  up  the  mad  scheme  of  the  Nile  source.  How  would  it  be  possible  for  a  lady  vouug 
and  delicate  to  endure  what  would  kill  the  strongest  man?  Give  it  up."  Rut  tlie  work 
went  on  until  Speke,  and  Grant,  and  Raker  found  the  two  lakes  which  are  the  .source  of 
what  was  called  the  White  Nile,  and  baptized  these  two  lakes  with  the  names  of  \'ictoria 
and  Albert.  These  two  lakes,  filled  by  great  rainfalls  and  b\-  accninulated  siiows  from  the 
mountams,  pour  their  waters,  laden  with  agricultural  wealth  such  as  blesses  no  other  ri\-er, 
on  down  over  the  cataracts,  on  between  frowning  mountains,  on  between  cities  li\-ing  and 
cities  dead,  on  for  four  thousand  miles  and  through  a  continent.  Rut  the  White  Nile  would 
do  little  for  Egypt  if  this  were  all.  It  would  keep  its  banks  and  Egypt  would  remain  a 
desert.  Rut  from  Aby.ssiuia  there  comes  what  is  called  the  Rlue  Nile,  which,  though  dry  or 
nearly  dry  half  the  year,  under  tremendous  rains  about  the  middle  of  June  rises  to  great 
momentum,  and  this  Blue  Nile  dashes  witli  sudden  influx  into  the  White  Nile,  which,  in 
consequence,  rises  thirty  feet,  and  their  combined  waters  inundate  Egypt  with  a  rich  .soil, 
which  drops  on  all  the  fields  and  gardens  as  if  is  conducted  b},-  ditches,  and  sluices,  and 
canals  everywhither.  The  greatest  damage  that  ever  came  to  Egypt  came  by  the  drying  up 
of  the  river  Nile,  and  the  greatest  blessing  by  its  healthful  and  abundant  flow.  The  famine 
in  Joseph's  time  came  from  the  lack  of  snflficient  inundation  from  the  Nile.  Not  enough  Nile  is 
drouth,  too  much  Nile  is  freshet  and  plague.  The  rivers  of  the  earth  are  the  mothers  of 
its  prosperit)-.  If  by  .some  convulsion  of  nature  the  Mississippi  should  be  taken  from  North 
.\merica,  or  the  Amazon  from  South  America,  or  the  Danube  from  Europe,  or  the  Venesei 
from  Asia — what  hemispheric  calamity  !  Still,  there  are  other  rivers  that  could  fertilize 
and  save  these  countries.  Our  own  continent  is  gulched,  is  ribboned,  is  glorified  by 
innumerable  water-cour.scs.  Rut  Egypt  has  only  one  great  river,  and  that  is  harnessed  to 
dr^w  all    the   prosperities   of  realms   in   acreage   semi-infinite.      What   happens  to  the  Nile, 


332 


THE  KARTH  GIRDLED. 


happens  to  Egypt.  The  Niloineter  was  to  ine  very  suggestive  as  we  went  up  and  down  its 
damp  stone  steps  and  saw  the  pillar  marked  with  inches,  telling  just  how  high  or  low  are 
the  waters  of  the  Nile.  When  the  Nile  is  rising,  four  criers  every  morning  run  through  the 
city  announcing  how  many  feet  the  river  has  risen — ten  feet,  fifteen  feet,  twenty  feet,  twenty- 
four  feet ;  and  when  the  right  height  of  water  is  reached  the  gates  of  the  canals  are  flung 
open  and  the  liquid  and  refreshing  benediction  is  pronounced  on  all  the  land. 

As  \ve  start  where  the  Nile  empties  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea  we  behold  a  wonderful 
fulfillment  of  prophecy.  The  Nile  in  ver\-  ancient  times  used  to  have  seven  mouths.  As 
the  great  river  approached  the  sea  it  entered  the  sea  at  seven  different  places.  Isaiah  prophe- 
sied, "  The  Lord  shall  utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  Sea  and  shall  smite  it  in 
the  seven  streams."  The  fact  is  the\-  are  all  destroyed  but  two,  and  Herodotus  said  these 
two  remaining  are  artificial.     Up  the  Nile   we   shall  go  ;  part  of  the  way  by  Egyptian  rail 

train  and  then  by 
boat,  and  we  shall 
understand  why 
the  Bible  gives  such 
prominence  to  this 
river,  which  is  the 
largest  river  of  all 
the  earth  with  one 
exception.  But  be- 
fore we  board  the 
train  we  must  take 
a  look  at  Alexan- 
dria. It  was  founded 
by  Alexander  the 
Great  and  was  once 
the  New  York,  the 
Paris,  the  London 
of  the  world.  Tem- 
ples, palaces,  foun- 
tains, gardens, 
pillared  and  effio- 
rescent  with  all  ar- 
ch i  tec  tural  and 

Edenic  grandeur  and  sweetness.  Apollos,  the  eloquent,  whom  in  New  Testament  times  some 
people  tried  to  make  a  rival  to  Paul,  lived  here.  Here  Mark,  the  author  of  the  .second  book  of 
the  New  Testament,  expired  under  Nero's  anathema.  From  here  the  ship  sailed  tliat  left  Paul 
and  the  crew  struggling  in  the  breakers  of  Melita.  Pompey's  Pillar  is  here,  about  one  hundred 
feet  high,  its  base  surrounded  by  so  much  filth  and  squalor  I  was  glad  to  escape  into  an  air 
that  was  breathable.  This  tower  was  built  in  honor  of  Diocletian  for  sparing  the  rebellious 
citizens.  After  having  declared  that  he  would  make  the  blood  run  to  his  horse's  knees,  his 
horse  falling  with  him  into  the  blood  and  his  knees  being  reddened,  the  tyrant  took  it  for 
granted  that  was  a  sign  he  should  stop  the  massacre,  and  hence  this  commemorative  pillar 
to  his  mercy.  This  is  the  city  to  which  Omar  came  after  building  fourteen  hundred 
mosques,  and  destroying  four  thousand  temples  and  thirty-five  thousand  villages  and  castles, 
yet  riding  in  on  a  came!  with  a  sack  of  corn,  a  sack  of  figs  and  a  wooden  plate,  all  that  he 


A    SHADORF   FOR    RAISING   WATER    FROM    THE    NILE    FOR    IRRir.ATIOX. 


MOORISH   LADIES'    APARTMENT. 


(333) 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


had  kept  for  himself;  and  the  diet  to  which  he  had  limited  himself  for  most  of  the  time  was 
bread  and  water.  Was  there  ever  in  any  other  man  a  commingling  of  elements  so  strange, 
so  weird,  so  generous,  so  crnel,  so  migiity,  so  weak,  so  religious,  so  fanatical  ?  In  this  cit\' 
was  the  greatest  female  lecttirer  the  world  ever  saw — Hypatia.  But  the  lessons  of  virtue 
that  she  taught  were  obnoxious,  and  so  they  dragged  her  through  the  streets  and  scraped  her 
flesh  from  her  bones  with  sharp  oyster  shells  and  then  burned  the  fragments  of  the  massa- 
cred bod}-.  And  here  dwelt  Cleopatra,  pronounced  to  be  the  beauty  of  all  time — although 
if  her  pictures  are  correct  I  liave  seen  a  thousand  women  in  America  more  attractive — and 
she  was  as  bad  as  she  was  said  to  be  handsome.  Queen,  conqueress,  and  spoke  seven 
languages,  although  it  would  have  been  better  for  the  world  if  she  had  not  been  able  to 
speak  any.     Julius  Csesar  conquered  the  world,  }-et  she  conquered  Julius  Caesar. 

But,  \lexandria,  fascinating  for  this  or  that  thing,  according  to  the  taste  of  the  visitor, 
Avas  to  me  the  most  entertaining  because  it  had   been   the  site  of  the  greatest  library  that 

the  world  ever  saw,  con- 
sidering the  fact  that  the 
art  of  printing  had  not 
been  invented.  Seven 
hundred  thousand  vol- 
umes and  all  the  work 
of  a  slow  pen.  But  down 
it  all  went  under  the 
torch  of  besiegers.  Built 
again  and  destro\-ed 
again.  Built  again,  but 
the  Arabs  came  along 
for  its  final  demolition, 
and  the  four  thousand 
baths  of  the  city  were 
heated  with  those  vol- 
umes, the  fuel  lasting  six 
months,  and  were  ever 
fires  kindled  at  such  fear- 
ful cost?  What  holo- 
causts of  the  world's 
literatuie  1  What  martxrdom  of  books!  How  many  of  them  have  gone  down  under  the 
ra<j-e  of  nations.  Onlv  one  book  has  been  able  to  withstand  the  bombardment,  and  that 
has  gone  through  without  smell  of  fire  on  its  lids.  No  sword  or  spear  or  musket  for  its 
defence.  An  unarmed  New  Testament.  An  unarmed  Old  Testament.  Yet  invulnerable 
and  triumphant.  There  must  be  something  supernatural  about  it.  Conqueror  of  books ! 
Monarch  of  books  !  All  the  books  of  all  the  ages  in  all  the  libraries  outshone  by  this  one 
book  which  you  and  I  can  carry  to  church  in  a  pocket.  So  methouglit  amid  the  ashes  of 
Alexandrian  libraries. 

But  all  aboard  the  Egyptian  rail  train  going  up  the  banks  of  the  Nile  !  Look  out  of 
the  window  and  see  those  camels  kneeling  for  the  imposition  of  their  load.  And  I  think  we 
might  take  from  them  a  lesson,  and  instead  of  trj'ing  to  stand  upright  in  our  own  strength, 
become  conscious  of  our  weakness  and  need  of  divine  help  before  we  take  upon  us  the 
heavy  duties  of  the  year  or  the  week  or  the  day,  and  so  kneel  for  the  burden.     We  meet 


pahaiii:ah 


NII.K    BOAT. 


(335 


336 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


processions  of  men  and  beasts  on  the  waj-  from  tlieir  day's  work,  but  alas  for  the  homes  to 
which  the  poor  inhabitants  are  going  !  For  the  most  part  hovels  of  mud.  But  there  is 
something  in  the  scene  that  thoroughly  enlists  us.  It  is  the  novelty  of  wretchedness  and  a 
scene  of  picturesque  rags.  For  thousands  of  years  this  land  has  been  under  a  very  damna- 
tion of  taxes.  Nothing  but  Christian  civilization  will  roll  back  the  influences  which  are 
"  spoiling  the  Egyptians."     There  are  gardens  and  palaces,  but  they  belong  to  the  rulers. 

About  here,  under  the  valiant  Murad  Bey,  the  Mamelukes,  who  are  the  finest  horsemen 
in  all  the  world,  came  like  a  hurricane  upon  Napoleon's  anny,  but  they  were  beaten  back 
bv  the  French  in  one  of  the  fiercest  battles  of  all  time.  Then  the  Mamelukes  turned  their 
horses'  heads  the  other  way,  and  in  desperation  backed  them  agamst  the  French  troops, 
hoping  the  horses  would  kick  the  life  out  of  the  French  regiments.  The  Mamelukes  fail- 
ing again,  plunged  into  this  Nile  and  were  drowned,  the  French 
for  days  fishing  out  the  dead  bodies  of  the  Mamelukes  to  get  the 
valuables  upon  their  bodies.  Napoleon,  at  the  daring  of  these 
]\Iamelukes  exclaimed,  "  Could  I  have  united  the  Mameluke 
horse  to  the  French  infantr\-,  I  should  have  reckoned  myself 
master  of  the  world." 

This  ride  along  the  Nile  is  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  im- 
pressive   rides  of  all  my    lifetime,   and    our    emotions    deepen 

as  the  curtains  of  the  night  fall 
upon  all  surroundings.  But  we 
shall  not  be  satisfied  until  we 
can  take  a  ship  and  pass  right 
out  upon  these  wondrous  waters 
and  between  the  banks  crowded 
with  the  story  of  empires. 

According  to  the  lead  pencil 
mark  in  my  Bible  it  was 
Thanksgiving  Day  morning,  in 
the  United  States,  that  with  my 
fomily  and  friends  we  stepped 
aboard  the  steamer  on  the  Nile. 
The  Mohammedan  call  to 
prayers  had  been  sounded  by 
the  priests  of  that  religion^ 
the  Muezzins,  from  the  four  hundred  mosques  of  Cairo,  as  the  cry  went  out :  "  God  is 
great.  I  bear  witness  that  there  is  no  God  but  God.  I  bear  witness  that  Mohammed  is 
the  apostle  of  God.  Come  to  prayers.  Come  to  salvation.  God  is  great.  Thei'e  is  no 
other  but  God.  Pra>-ers  are  better  than  sleep."  The  sky  and  city  and  palm  groves  and 
river  shipping  were  bathed  in  the  light.  It  was  not  much  of  a  craft  that  we  boarded.  It 
would  not  be  hailed  on  any  of  our  rivers  with  any  rapture  of  admiration.  It  fortunately 
had  but  little  speed,  for  twice  we  ran  aground  and  the  sailors  jumped  into  the  water  and  on 
their  shoulders  pushed  her  out.  But  what  yacht  of  gayest  sportsman,  what  deck  of  swiftest 
ocean  queen  could  give  such  thrill  of  rapture  as  a  sail  on  the  Nile  ?  The  pyramids  in 
sight,  the  remains  of  cities  that  are  now  onlv  a  name,  the  villages  thronged  with  popula- 
tion. Both  banks  crowded  with  historical  deeds  of  forty  or  si.xty  centuries.  Oh,  what  a 
Book  the  Bible  is  when  read  on  the  Nile  ! 


BARRAGE,    OR   WING   DAM,    Tu    IXCKIiASIC    THU   DEPTH    OF   THU    NILE. 


THE   WORLD   AvS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


337 


As  we  slowly  move  up  the  majestic  river  I  see  oti  each  bank  the  wheels,  the  pumps,  the 
buckets  for  irrigation,  and  see  a  man  with  his  foot  on  the  treadle  of  a  wheel  that  fetches  up 
the  water  for  a  garden,  and  then  for  the  first  time  I  understand  that  passage  in  Deuteronomy 
which  says  of  the  Israelites  after  they  had  got  back  from  Egypt :  "  The  land  whither  thou 
goest  in  to  possess  it,  is  not  as  the  land  of  Egypt  from  whence  ye  came  out,  where  thou 
sowedst  tin-  seed,  and  wateredst  it  with  thy  foot."  Then  I  understood  how  the  land  could  be 
watered  with  the  foot.  How  do  you  suppose  I  felt  when  on  the  deck  of  that  steamer  on  the 
Nile  I  looked  off  upon  the  canals  and  ditches  and  sluices  through  which  the  fields  are  irri- 
gated by  that  river,  and  then  read  in  Isaiah  :  "  The  burden  of  Egypt.  The  river  shall  be 
vvasted  and  dried  up,  and  they  shall  turn  the  rivers  faraway  ;  and  the  brooks  of  defence  shall 
be  emptied  and  dried  up ;  and  they  shall  be  broken  in  the  purposes  thereof, — all  that  make 


RAMESEVJI    AND   TOMBS   OF   THE    KINGS,    THEBES. 

sluices  and  ponds  for  fish."  Pharaoh  in  this  chapter  is  compared  to  the  dragon  or  hippopo- 
tamus suggested  by  the  crocodiles  that  used  to  line  the  banks  of  this  river  :  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God  ; — Behold  I  am  against  thee,  Pharaoh  King  of  Egypt,  the  great  dragon  that 
lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  rivers,  which  hath  said,  My  river  is  mine  own,  and  I  have  made  it 
for  myself.  But  I  will  put  hooks  in  thy  jaws,  and  I  will  cause  the  fish  of  thy  rivers  to  stick 
unto  thy  scales,  and  I  will  bring  thee  up  out  of  the  midst  of  thy  rivers,  and  all  the  fish  of 
thv  rivers  shall  stick  unto  thy  scales,  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  be  desolate  and  waste  ; 
and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  :  because  he  hath  said  the  river  is  mine,  and  I  have 
made  it." 

While  sailing  on  this   river  or  stopping  at    one   of  the    villages,  we  see  people  on  the 
banks   wlio  verify  the   Bible    description,   for  they  are   now   as  they    were   in    Bible   times. 


338 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


Shoes  are  now  taken  off  in  reverence  to  sacred  places.  Children  carried  astride  the  mother's 
shonlder,  as  in  Hagar's  time.  \\'omeii  with  profnsion  of  jewelry,  as  when  Rebecca  was 
affianced.  Lentils  .shelled  into  the  pottage,  as  when  Esau  sold  his  birthright  to  get  such  a  di.sh. 
The  same  habits  of  .salutation  as  when  Joseph  and  his  brethren  fell  on  each  other's  necks. 
Courts  of  law  held  under  big  trees,  as  in  olden  times.  People  making  bricks  without  straw, 
compelled  b\-  circumstances  to  use  stubble  instead  of  straw.  Flying  over  or  standing  on  the 
banks,  as  in  Scripture  days,  are  flamingoes,  osprej's,  eagles,  pelicans,  herons,  cuckoos  and 
bullfinches.  On  all  sides  of  this  river  .sepulchres.  Villages  of  seiDulchres.  Cities  of  .sep- 
ulchres. Nations  of  sepulchres.  And  one  is  tempted  to  call  it  an  empire  of  tombs.  I  never 
.saw  such  a  place  as  Egypt  is  for  graves.  And  now  we  understand  the  complaining  sarcasm 
of  the  Israelites  when  they  were  on  the  wa\-  from  Egypt  to  Canaan  :  "  Because  there  were 
no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast  thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ?  "     Down  the  river 

bank  come  the  buffalo  and  the 
cattle  or  kine  to  drink.  And  it 
was  the  ancestors  of  these  cattle 
that  inspired  Pharaoh's  dream  of 
the  lean  kine  and  the  fat  kiue. 

Here  we  disembark  a  little 
while  for  Memphis,  off  from  the 
Nile  to  the  right.  IMemphis 
founded  by  the  first  king  of  Egypt 
and  for  a  long  while  the  capital. 
A  city  of  marble  and  gold.  Home 
of  the  Pharaohs.  City  nineteen 
miles  in  circumference.  Vast 
colonnades  through  which  impos- 
ing processions  marched.  Here 
stood  the  Temple  of  the  Sun, 
itself  in  brilliancy  a  sun  shone  on 
bv  another  sun.  Thebes  was  in 
power  over  a  thousand  one  hun- 
dred years,  or  nearly  ten  times  as 
long  as  the  United  States  have 
existed.  Here,  at  Memphis,  is  a 
recumbent  statue  seventy-five  feet 
long.  Bronzed  gateways.  A  necropolis  called  "  the  haven  of  the  blest."  Here  Joseph  was 
prime  minister.  Here  Pharaoh  received  Jacob.  All  possible  splendors  were  built  up 
into  this  ro\al  cit\'.  Hosea,  Ezekiel,  Jeremiali  and  Isaiah  speak  of  it  as  something 
■wonderful.  Never  did  I  visit  a  city  with  such  exalted  anticipations  and  never  did  my 
anticipations  drop  so  flat.  Not  a  pillar  stands.  Not  a  wall  is  imbroken.  Not  a  fountain 
tosses  in  the  sun.  Even  the  ruins  have  been  ruined,  and  all  that  remain  are  chips  of 
marble,  small  pieces  of  fractured  sculpture  and  splintered  human  bones.  Here  and 
there  a  letter  of  some  elaborate  inscription,  a  toe  or  ear  of  a  statue  that  once  stood  in 
niche  of  palace  wall.  Ezekiel  prophesied  its  blotting-out,  and  the  prophecy  has  been  ful- 
filled. "  Ride  on,"  I  said  to  our  party,  "  and  don't  wait  for  me."  And  as  I  stood  there 
alone,  the  city  of  Memphis  in  the  glory  of  past  centuries  returned.  And  I  heard  the  rush 
of  her  chariots  and  the  dash  of  her  fountains  and  the  conviviality  of  her  palaces,  and  saw 


OBELISK,    .^,^■D    PROPVI.ON    OV    THE    TEMPI.E    Ol-    1.1  XOK. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


33V 


the  drunken  nobles  roll  on  the  floors  of  mosaic,  while  in  startling  contrast,  amid  all  the 
regalities  of  the  place,  I  saw  Pharaoh  look  up  into  the  face  of  aged  rnstic  Jacob,  the  shei> 
herd,  saying,  "  How  old  art  thou  ?  " 

But  back  to  the  Nile  and  on  and  i;p  till  you  reach  Thebes,  in  Scripture  called  the  City 
of  No.  Hundred-gated  Thebes.  A  quadrangular  city  four  miles  from  limit  to  limit.  Four 
great  temples,  two  of  them  Karnac  and  Luxor,  once  mountains  of  excjuisite  sculpture  and 
gorgeous  dreams  solidified  in  stone.  Statue  of  Rameses  H,  eight  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
tons  in  weight  and  seventy-five  feet  high,  but  now  fallen  and  scattered.  Walls  abloom  with 
the  battlefields  of  centuries.  The  surrounding  hills  of  rock  hollowed  into  sepulchres,  on 
the  wall  of  which  are  chiseled  in  picture  and  hieroglyphics  the  confirmation  of  Bible  story 
in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  so  that,  as  explorations  goon  with  the 
work,  the  walls  of  these  sepulchres  be- 
come commentaries  of  the  Bible,  the 
Scriptures  originally  written  upon  parch- 
ment, here  cut  into  everlasting  stone. 
Thebes  mighty  and  dominant  five  hun- 
dred years.  Then  she  went  down  in 
fulfillment  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy  concern- 
ing the  Cit\'  of  No,  which  was  another 
name  for  Thebes  :  "  I  will  execute  judg- 
ment in  No.  I  will  cut  off  the  multitudes 
of  No."  Jeremiah  also  prophesied,  "  Thus 
saitli  the  Lord,  I  will  punish  the  multi- 
tudes of  No."  This  city  of  Thebes  and 
all  the  other  dead  cities  of  Egypt  iterate 
and  reiterate  the  veracity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, telling  the  same  story  which  Moses 
and  the  prophets  told.  Have  you  noticed 
how  God  kept  back  these  archaeological 
confirmations  of  the  Bible  until  our 
time,  when  the  air  is  full  of  unbelief 
about  the  truthfulness  of  the  dear  old 
Book? 

He  waited  until  the  printing  press 
had  been  set  up  in  its  perfected  shape, 
and  the  submarine  cable  was  laid,  and 
the  whole  world  was  intelligent  enough  to 
appreciate  the  testimony,  and  then  he  resurrected  the  dead  cities  of  the  earth,  and  commands 
them,  saying,  "  Open  your  long  sealed  lips  and  speak  !  Memphis  and  Thebes  !  Is  the  Bible 
true  ?  "  "  True  !  "  respond  Memphis  and  Thebes.  "  Babylon  !  Is  the  Book  of  Daniel  true  ?  " 
"  True  !  "  responds  Babvlon.  "  Ruins  of  Palestine  and  Syria  !  Is  the  New  Testament  true  ?  " 
"  True  !  "  respond  the  ruins  all  the  way  from  Joppa  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  from  Jerusalem  to 
Damascus.  What  a  mercy  that  this  testimony  of  the  dead  cities  should  come  at  a  time 
when  the  Bible  is  especiallv  assailed.  And  this  work  will  go  on  until  the  veracity  and 
divinity  of  the  Scriptures  will  be  as  certain  to  all  sensible  men  and  women  as  that  two  and 
two  make  four,  as  that  an  isosceles  triangle  is  one  which  has  two  of  its  sides  equal,  as  that 
the    diameter    of  a    circle    is   a   line   drawn    through    the    centre    and    terminated    by    the 


GODDESS     OF     UPPKR     AM)     i.uU  l-.K     EGYI'T     CKuW.MNG 
PH.\RAOH. 


340 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


circumference,  as  certain  as  any  mathematical  demonstration.  Never  did  I  feel  more  encour- 
aged than  when  after  preaching  a  sermon  on  evidences  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  drawn  from 
Oriental  lands,  a  distinguished  senator  of  the  United  States,  known  and  honored  every- 
where, but  now  deceased,  came  up  to  the  platform  and  said  :  "  I  was  brought  up  in  the 
faith  of  Christianity,  but  I  got  speculating  on  all  these  subjects,  and  had  given  up  my  faith 
in  the  Bible,  but  those  facts  and  arguments  archaeological  take  me  back  to  my  old  faith  in 
the  Bible,  which  my  father  and  mother  taught  me."  The  tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks 
evinced  the  depth  of  his  emotion.  When  I  read  of  the  senator's  death  I  was  comforted  to 
think  that  perhaps  I  may  have  helped  him  a  little  in  the  struggle  of  this  life,  and  perhaps 
given  him  an  easier  pillow  on  which  to  die. 

Two  great  nations,  Egypt  and  Greece,  diplomatized  and  almost  came  to  battle  for  one 
book,  a   copy   of  ^■E^chylns.     Ptolemy  the   Egyptian  king,   discovered  that    in    the  great 

library  at  Alexandria  there  was  no 
copy  of  ^schylus.  The  Egyp- 
tian king  sent  up  to  Athens^ 
Greece,  to  borrow  the  book  and 
make  a  copy  of  it.  Athens  de- 
manded a  deposit  of  seventeen 
thousand  seven  hundred  dollars  as 
security.  The  Egyptian  king  re- 
ceived the  book,  but  refused  ta 
return  that  which  he  had  borrowed, 
and  so  forfeited  the  seventeen 
thousand  seven  hundred  dollars. 
The  two  nations  rose  in  contention 
concerning  that  one  book.  Beau- 
tiful and  mighty  book  indeed  !  But 
it  is  a  book  of  horrors,  the  dominant 
idea  that  we  are  the  victims  of 
liL-reditary  influences  from  which 
there  is  no  escape,  and  that  Fate 
rules  the  world  ;  and  although  the 
author  does  tell  of  Prometheus  who 
was  crucified  on  the  rocks  for  sym- 
pathy for  mankind,  a  powerful  sug- 
gestion of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  in  later  years,  it  is  a  very  poor  book  compared  with  that 
Book  which  we  hug  to  our  hearts  because  it  contains  our  only  guide  in  life,  our  only  comfort 
in  death,  and  our  only  hope  for  a  blissful  immortality.  If  two  nations  could  afford  to- 
struggle  for  one  copy  of  ^Bschylus,  how  much  more  can  all  nations  afford  to  struggle  for 
the  possession  and  triumph  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ! 

But  the  dead  cities  strung  along  the  Nile  not  only  demolish  infidelity,  but  thunder  down 
the  absurdity  of  the  modern  doctrine  of  evolution,  which  says  the  world  started  with  nothing 
and  then  rose,  and  human  nature  began  with  nothing  but  evolved  into  splendid  manhood 
and  womanhood  of  itself.  Nay  ;  the  sculpture  of  the  world  was  more  wonderful  in  the 
days  of  Memphis  and  Thebes  and  Carthage  than  in  the  daj-s  of  Boston  and  New  York. 
Those  blocks  of  stone,  weighing  three  hundred  tons,  high  up  in  the  wall  at  Karnac  imply 
machinery  equal  to,  if  not  surpassing,  the  machinery  of  the  nineteenth  century.     How  was 


THK    COLOSSI,    THEBES. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  341 

that  statue  of  Rameses,  weighing  eight  Imiidred  and  eight\-seven  tons,  transported  from  the 
quarries  two  hundred  miles  away,  and  how  was  it  lifted  ?  Tell  us,  modern  machinists. 
How  were  those  galleries  of  rock,  still  standing  at  Thebes,  filled  with  paintings  surpassed 
by  no  artist's  pencil  of  the  present  day?  Tell  us,  artists  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
dead  cities  of  Egypt  so  far  as  they  have  left  enough  pillars  or  statues  or  sepulchres  or 
temple  ruins  to  tell  the  story — Memphis,  I\!igdo],  Hierapolis,  Zoan,  Thebes,  Goshen, 
Cartha<^e — all  of  them  developing  downward  instead  of  upward.  They  have  evoluted  from 
magnificence  into  destruction.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  elevator  of  individual  and 
social  national  character.  Let  all  the  living  cities  know  that  pomp  and  opulence  and 
temporal  prosperity  are  no  security.  Those  ancient  cities  lacked  nothing  but  good  morals. 
Dissipation  and  sin  slew  them,  and  unless  dissipation  and  sin  are  halted,  they  will  some  day 
slay  our  modern  cities,  and  leave  our  palaces  of  merchandise  and  our  galleries  of  art  and  our 
city  halls  as  flat  in  the  dust  as  we  found  Memphis  on  the  afternoon  of  that  interesting 
dav.  And  if  the  cities  go  down,  the  nation  will  go  down.  "  Oh,"  30U  say,  "  that  is 
impossible ;  we  have  stood  so  long — yea,  over  a  hundred  years  as  a  nation."  Why,  what  of 
that  ?  Thebes  stood  five  hundred  years  ;  Memphis  stood  a  thousand  years.  God  does  not 
forget.  One  day  with  the  Lord  is  as  a  thousand  years  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day. 
Rum  and  debaucher\'  and  bad  politics  are  more  rapidly  working  the  destruction  of  our 
American  cities  than  sin  of  any  kind,  and  all  kinds  worked  for  the  destruction  of  the  cities  of 
Africa,  once  so  mighty  and  now  so  prostrate.  But  their  gods  were  idols,  and  could  do  nothing 
except  for  debasement.  Our  God  made  the  heavens  and  sent  His  Son  to  redeem  the  nations. 
And  our  cities  will  not  go  down,  and  our  nation  will  not  perish  because  the  gospel  is  going 
to  triumph.  Forward  !  all  schools  and  colleges  and  churches  !  Forward  !  all  reformatory 
and  missionary  organizations.  Forward  !  all  the  influences  marshaled  to  bless  the  world. 
Let  our  modern  European  and  American  cities  listen  to  the  voice  of  those  ancient  cities 
resurrected,  and  by  hammer  and  chisel  and  crow-bar  compelled  to  speak. 

I  notice  the  voice  of  those  ancient  cities  is  hoarse  from  the  exposure  of  forty  centuries, 
and  they  accentuate  slowly  with  lips  that  were  palsied  for  ages,  but  altogether  those  cities 
along  the  Nile  intone  these  words  :  "  Hear  us,  for  we  are  very  old,  and  it  is  hard  for  us  to 
speak.  We  were  wise  long  before  Athens  learned  her  first  lesson.  We  sailed  our  ships 
while  3'et  navigation  was  unborn.  We  sinned  and  we  fell.  Our  learning  could  not  save  us  : 
see  those  half  obliterated  hieroglyphics  on  yonder  wall.  Our  architecture  could  not  save 
lis  :  see  the  painted  cohnnns  of  Philje.  Our  heroes  could  not  save  us  :  witness  this,  Menes, 
Diodorus,  Rameses  and  Ptolem}-.  Our  gods  Amnion  and  Osiris  could  not  save  us :  see 
their  fallen  temples  all  along  the  four  thousand  miles  of  Nile.  O,  ye  modern  cities,  get 
some  other  god — a  God  who  can  help,  a  God  who  can  pardon,  a  God  who  can  save.  Called 
up  as  we  are  for  a  little  while  to  give  testimony,  again  the  sands  of  the  desert  will  bury  us. 
Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust !"  And  as  these  voices  of  porphyry  and  granite  ceased,  all  the 
sarcophagi  under  the  hills  responded,  "  Ashes  to  ashes  !  "  and  the  capital  of  a  lofty  column 
fell,  grinding  itself  to  powder  among  the  rocks,  and  responding,  "  Dust  to  dust !  " 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


BRICK-KILNS  OF  EGYPT. 


(D 


^HAT  is  all  this  excitement  about  in  the  streets  of  Cairo,  Egypt,  this  beautiful 
luorning  in  1889?  Stand  back  !  We  hear  loud  voices  and  see  the  crowds  of 
peojDle  retreating  to  the  sides  of  the  street.  The  excitement  of  others  becomes 
our  own  excitement.  Footmen  come  in  sight.  They  have  a  rod  in  hand  and 
tasseled  cap  on  head,  and  their  arms  and  feet  are  bare.  Their  garb  is  black  to  the  waist, 
except  as  threaded  witli  gold,  and  the  rest  is  white.  They  are  clearing  the  way  for  an 
official  dignitarv  in  a  chariot  or  carriage.  They  are  swift  and  sometimes  run  thirty  or  forty 
miles  at  a  stretch  in  front  of  an  equipaoe.  Make  way  !  They  are  the  fleetest-footed  men 
on  earth,  but  soon  die,  for  the  human  frame  was  not  made  for  such  endurance.  I  asked  all 
around  me  who  the  man  in  the  carriage   was,  but  no  one   seemed  to  know.     Yet  as  I  tell 

back  with  the  rest  to  the  wall,  I 
said,  this  is  the  old  custom  found 
all  up  and  down  the  Bible,  footmen 
running  before  the  rulers,  demand- 
ing obeisance,  as  in  Genesis  before 
Joseph's  chariot  the  people  were 
commanded,  "  Bow  the  knee  ;  "  and 
as  I  saw  the  swift  feet  of  the  men 
followed  by  the  swift  feet  of  the 
horses,  how  those  old  words  of 
Jeremiah  rushed  through  my  mind : 
"  If  thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen 
and  they  have  wearied  thee,  how 
canst  thou  contend  with  honses  ?  " 
Two  hundred  and  eight\'-nine 
times  does  the  Bible  refer  to  Egypt 
and  the  Egyptians.  No  wonder, 
for  Egypt  was  the  mother  of  na- 
tions. Egypt,  the  mother  of 
Greece  ;  Greece,  the  mother  of 
Rome  ;  Rome,  the  mother  of  Eng- 
land ;  England,  the  mother  of  our 
own  land.  According  to  that,  Egypt  is  our  great-great-grandmother.  In  other  chapters  I  left 
you  studying,  what  the>-  must  have  been  in  their  glory  :  the  Hypost\le  Hall  of  Karnak,  the 
architectural  miracles  at  Luxor,  the  Colonnade  of  Horemheb,  the  cemeteries  of  Memphis, 
the  value  of  a  kingdom  in  one  monument,  the  Sphinx,  which  with  lips  of  stone  speaks  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  across  the  centuries  ;  Heliopolis  and  Zoan,  the  conundrum  of  archaeolo- 
gists.     But  all  that  extravagance  of  palace  and  temple  and  nionumtiit  was   the  cau.se  ot  an 

(342) 


GKXKR.\I.   VIEW   OF    Ll'.XOR. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


342 


oppression  high  as  heaven  and  deep  as  liell.  The  weight  of  tliose  blocks  of  stone,  lieavier 
than  any  modern  machinery  conld  lift,  came  down  npon  the  Hebrew  slaves,  and  their  blood 
mixed  the  mortar  for  the  trowels. 

We  saw  again  and  again  on  and  along  the  Nile  a  boss  winknian  ronghl\'  smite  a  subor- 
dinate who  did  not  please  him.  It  is  no  rare  occurrence  to  see  long  lines  of  men  under 
heavy  burdens  passing  by  taskmasters  at  short  distances,  lashing  them  as  they  go  by  into 
greater  speed,  and  then  these  workmen,  exhausted  by  the  blasting  heats  of  the  da\-.  King 
down  upon  the  bare  ground,  suddenh' chilled  with  the  night  air,  cr\ing  out  in  pra\  er,  "  Ya  ! 
Allah  !  "  "  Ya  !  Allah  !  "  which  means  O  !  God  !  O  !  God  !  But  what  must  have  been 
the  olden  times  cruelty  shown  by  the  EgV'ptians  toward  their  Israelitish  slaves  is  indicated 
by  a  picture  in  the  Beni-Hassan  tombs,  where  a  man  is  held  down   on   his  face  by  two  men, 


isi.Axn  OF  PHii.AK  fro:m  hiochh. 

and  another  holds  up  the  \-ictiui's  feet,  while  the  officials  beat   the  bare  back  of  the  victim, 
e\-ery  stroke,  I  have  no  doubt,  fetching  the  blood. 

Now  }'ou  see  how  the  Pharaohs  could  afford  to  build  such  costh-  works.  It  cost  them 
nothing  for  wages,  nothing  but  the  tears  and  blood  of  the  toilers,  and  tears  and  blood  are  a 
cheap  drink  for  devils.  "  Bricks  without  straw"  may  not  suggest  so  much  hardship  until 
}'ou  know  that  the  bricks  were  usually  made  with  "  crushed  straw,"  straw  crushed  by  the 
feet  of  the  oxen  in  the  threshing,  and,  this  crushed  straw  denied  to  the  workmen,  the\-  had 
to  pick  up  here  and  there  a  piece  of  stubble  or  gather  rushes  from  the  water-side.  This 
story  of  the  Bible  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  brick  walls  of  Kgypt  ha\-e  on 
the  lower  layer  bricks  made  with  straw,  but  the  higher  layers  of  brick  made  out  of  rough 
straw,  or  rushes  from  the  river  bank,  the   truth  of  the  book  of  Exodus  tints  written  in  the 


344 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


brick  walls  discovered  bv  the  modern  explorers.  That  governmental  ontrage  has  always 
been  a  characteristic  of  Egyptian  rulers.  Taxation  to  the  point  of  starvation  was  the 
Egyptian  rule  in  the  Bible  times  as  well  as  it  is  in  our  own  time.  A  modern  traveler  gives 
the  figures  concerning  the  cultivation  of  seventeen  acres,  the  value  of  the  yield  of  the  field 
itated  in  piasters  (abont  eight  cents) : 

Produce 1S02 

Expenses 99i'A 

Clear  produce, SoSyi 

Taxes,        493 

Amount  cleared  by  the  farmer, i'S'A 

Or,  as  nn-  authorit>-  declares,  seventy  per  cent  of  what  the  Egyptian  farmer  makes  is  paid 
for  taxes  to  the  government.     Now,  that  is  not  so  much   taxation  as  assassination.     What 

think  you  of  that,  you  who 
groan  under  heavy  taxes  in 
America  ?  I  have  heard  that 
in  Egypt  the  working  people 
have  a  song  like  this:  "They 
starve  us,  the}-  starve  us, 
they  beat  us,  they  beat  us, 
but  there's  some  one  above, 
there's  some  one  above,  who 
will  punish  them  well,  who 
will  punish  them  well."  But 
seventy  per  cent  of  govern- 
ment tax  in  Eg\'ptis  a  mercy 
as  compared  to  what  the 
Hebrew  slaves  suffered  there 
in  Bible  times.  They  got 
nothing  but  food  hardly  fit 
for  a  dog,  and  their  clothing 
was  of  one  rag,  and  their  roof 
a  burning  sky  by  day  and 
the  stars  of  heaven  by  night. 
You  say,  "Why  did  they  stand  it?"  Because  they  had  to  stand  it.  You  see  along 
back  in  the  world's  twilight  there  was  a  famine  in  Canaan,  and  old  Jacob  and  his  sons 
came  to  Egypt  for  bread.  The  old  man's  boy  Joseph  was  prime  minister,  and  Joseph — I 
suppose  the  father  and  the  brothers  called  him  Joe,  for  it  does  not  make  an}'  difference 
how  much  a  boy  is  advanced  in  worldly  success,  his  father  and  brothers  and  sisters 
always  call  him  by  the  same  name  that  he  was  called  hv  when  two  years  old — Joseph, 
by  Pharaoh's  permission,  gave  to  his  family,  who  had  just  arrived,  the  richest  part  of 
Egypt,  the  Westchester  farms  or  the  Lancaster  farms  of  the  ancients.  Jacob's 
descendants  rapidlv  multiplied.  After  a  while  Eg\'pt  took  a  turn  at  famine,  and  those 
descendants  of  Jacob,  the  Israelites,  came  to  a  great  storehouse  which  Joseph  had 
provided,  and  paid  in  money  for  corn.  But  after  a  while  the  money  gave  out  and  then 
thev  paid  in  cattle.  After  a  while  the  cattle  were  all  in  the  possession  of  the  government, 
and  then  the  Hebrews  bought  corn  fi'om  the  government  b\'  surrendering  themselves  as  slaves. 


rkni'vijix  OF  Tin-,  ti.mii,]..   iii.nhi.i;  \  11 


KING  THEEBAWS   PRIMA   DONNA   DANCING  GIRL. 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


345 


Then  began  slaven-  in  Egypt.  The  government  owned  all  the  Hebrews.  And  let 
modern  Innatics,  who  in  America  propose  handing  o\'er  telegraph  companies  and  railroads 
and  other  things  to  be  rnn  by  the  government,  see  the  folly  of  letting  the  government  get 
its  hand  on  everything.  I  would  rather  trust  t!ie  people  than  any  government  the  United 
States  ever  had  or  will  have.  Woe  worth  the  day  when  legislators  and  congresses  and 
administrations  get  possession  of  anything  more  than  it  is  necessar\-  for  them  to  have. 
That  would  be  the  revival  in  this  land  of  that  old  Egyptian  tyranny  for  which  God  has 
never  had  anything  but  red-hot  thunderbolts.  But  through  such  unwise  processes  Israel 
was  enslaved  in  Egypt,  and  the  long  line  of  agonies  began  all  up  and  down  the  Nile. 
Heavier  and  sharper  fell  the  lash,  hungrier  and  ghastlier  grew  the  workmen,  louder  and 
longer  went  up  the  prayer,  until  three  millions  of  the  enslaved  were  crying,  "  Ya  !  Allah  ! 
Ya!  Allah!"  O!  God! 
O!    God! 

Where  was  help  to 
come  from  ?  Not  the 
throne,  Pharaoh  sat  upon 
that.  Not  the  army, 
Pharaoh's  officers  com- 
manded that.  Not  sur- 
rounding  nations, 
Pharaoh's  threat  made 
them  all  tremble.  Not 
the  gods,  Amnion  and 
Osiris,  or  the  goddess 
Isis,  for  Pharaoh  built 
their  temples  out  of  the 
groans  of  this  diabolical 
servitude.  But  one  hot 
day  the  princess  Tho- 
noris,  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  while  in  her 
bathing-house  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  has 
word  brought  her  that 
there  is  a  baby  afloat  on 
the  river  in  a  cradle  made  out  of  big  leaves.  Of  course  there  is  excitement  all  up 
and  down  the  banks,  for  an  ordinaiy  baby  in  an  ordinary^  cradle  attracts  smiling 
attention,  but  an  infant  in  a  cradle  of  papyrus  rocking  on  the  ri\er  arouses  not  onlv 
admiration  but  curiosity.  Who  made  that  boat?  Who  made  it  water-tight  with 
bitumen  ?  Who  launched  it  ?  Reckless  of  the  crocodiles  which  lay  basking  them- 
selves in  the  sun,  the  maidens  wade  in  and  snatch  up  the  child,  and  first  one  carries 
him  and  then  another  carries  him,  and  all  the  way  up  the  bank  he  runs  a  gauntlet 
of  caresses,  till  Thonoris  rushes  out  of  the  bathing-house  and  says,  "  Beautiful  foundling, 
I  will  adopt  you  as  my  own.  You  shall  yet  wear  the  Eg\-ptian  crown  and  sit  on  the 
Egyptian  throne."  No!  No!  No!  He  is  to  be  the  emancipator  of  tlie  Hebrews.  Tell  it 
in  all  the  brick-kilns.  Tell  it  among  all  those  who  are  writhing  under  the  lash,  tell  it 
among  all  the  castles  of  Memphis  and  Heliopolis  and  Zoan  and  Thebes.     Before  him  a  sea 


^SSl^i:^M:^^fe^^M: 


'f^/Z^S^'- 


PHARAOH  S   BED.     PHILAE. 


346 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


will  part.      (_)n  a  iiiunulaiu  top,  alone,  this  one  will   receive  from   the  Almighty  a  law  that 
is  to  be  the  foundation  of  all  orood   law  wdiile   the   world   lasts.      When  he  is  dead  God  will 

I  ome  down  on  Nebo  and  alone  bury  him,  no  man 
iir  woman  or  angel  w'orthy  to  attend  the  obse- 
quies. The  child  grows  up  and  goes  out  and 
studies  the  horrors  of  Egyptian  oppression,  and 
suppres.ses  his  indignation,  for  the  right  time  has 
not  come,  although  once  for  a  minute  he  let  fly, 
and  when  he  saw  a  taskmaster  put  the  whip  on 
the  back  of  a  workman  who  was  doing  his  best 
and  heard  the  poor  fellow  cry  and  saw  the  blood 
spurt,  Moses  doubled  up  his  fist  and  struck  him 
on  the  temple  till  the  cruel  villain  rolled  over 
in  the  sand  exanimate  and  never  swung  the  lash 
again.      Served  him  right ! 

But,  Moses,  are  yon  going  to  undertake  the 
impossibilities?  Yon  feel  that  \'ou  are  going  to 
free  the  Hebrews  from  bondage,  but  where  is 
your  arm\-  ?  Where  is  your  navy  ?  Not  a  sword 
have  you,  not  a  spear,  not  a  chariot,  not  a  horse. 
Ah  !  (rod  was  on  his  side  and  He  has  an  army  of 
His  own.  The  snow-storms  are  on  God's  side  : 
witness  the  snow-banks  in  which  the  French 
army  of  invasion  were  buried  on  their  way  back 
witness  the  eighteenth  of  June  at  Waterloo  when 


MUMM\'    ll].'    RAMIiSI'.S    HI. 


BOULAK    MUSEUM. 

from  Moscow.  The  rain  is  on  His  side 
the  tempests  so  saturated  the  road  that  the  attack  could  not  be  made  on  Wellington's 
forces  until  ii  o'clock  and 
he  was  strong  enOugh  to 
hold  out  until  reinforce- 
ments arrived.  Had  that 
battle  been  opened  at  5 
o'clock  in  the  morning  in- 
stead of  at  II  the  destiny 
of  Europe  would  have  been 
turned  the  wrong  way.  The 
heav\-  rain  decided  evcr\- 
thiug.  So  also  are  the 
winds  and  the  waves  on 
God's  side  :  witness  the 
Armada,  with  one  hundred 
and  fiftv  shi])S  and  twenty- 
six  hundred  and  fift'\-  guns 
and  eight  thousand  sailors 
and  twent\'  thousand 
soldiers,  sent  unt  1>\-  Philiji 
n.of  Spain  to  conquer  Eng- 
land. What  became  of  men  miu  nv  thi-  ki-ins  at  philak. 


THE    WORLD    AS    SEEN    TO-DAY. 


347 


and  shipping?  Ask  the  wind  and  the  waves  all  along  the  English  and  Irish  coasts.  The 
men  and  the  ships  all  wrecked  or  drowned  or  scattered.  So  I  expect  that  Moses  will  be 
helped  in  rescuing  the  Israelites  by  a  special  weaponry. 

To  the  FCgyptians  the  Nile  was  a  deity.  Its  waters  were  very  delicious.  It  was  the 
finest  natural  beverage  of  all  the  earth.  We  have  no  such  love  for  the  Hudson,  and  Ger- 
mans ha^-e  no  such  love  for  the  Rhine,  and  Russians  have  no  such  love  for  the  \'olga,  as 
the  Egyptians  have  love  for  the  Nile.  IJut  one  day  when  Pharaoh  conies  down  to  this  river 
Moses  takes  a  stick  and  whips  the  waters  and  they  turn  into  the  gore  of  a  slaughter-house, 
and  through  the  sluices  and  fish-ponds  the  incarnadined  liquid  backs  up  into  the  land  and 
the  malodor  whelms  everything  from  mud  ho\el  to  tlirone-rooni.  Then  came  the  frogs  with 
horrible  croak  all  over  everything.  Then  this  people,  cleanly  almost  to  fastidiousness,  were 
infested  with  insects  that  belong  to  the  filthy  and  unkempt,  and  the  air  buzzed  and  buzzed 
with  flies,  and  then  the 
distemper  started  cows 
to  bellowing  and  horses 
to  neighing  and  camels 
to  groaning,  as  they 
rolled  over  and  expired. 
And  then  boils,  one  of 
which  will  put  a  man 
in  wretchedness,  came 
in  clusters  from  the  top 
of  the  head  to  the  sole 
of  the  foot.  And  then 
the  clouds  dropped  hai! 
and  lightning.  And 
then  locusts  came  in, 
swarms  of  them,  worse 
than  the  grasshoppers 
ever  were  in  Kansas, 
and  then  darkness 
dropped  for  three  da\  s 
so  that  the  people 
could  not  see  their  hand 

before  their  face,  great  surges  of  midnight  covering  them.  And,  last  of  all,  on  the  night 
of  the  eighteenth  of  April,  about  eighteen  hundred  years  before  Christ,  the  destroying- 
angel  sweeps  past  ;  and  hear  it  all  night  long,  the  flap !  flap !  flap !  of  his  awful  wings,  until 
Egvpt  rolled  on,  a  great  hearse,  the  eldest  child  dead  in  every  Egyptian  home.  The  eldest 
son  of  Pharaoh  expired  that  night  in  the  palace,  and  all  along  the  streets  of  Memphis  and 
Heliopolis  and  all  up  and  down  the  Nile  there  was  a  funeral  wail  that  would  have  rent  the 
fold  of  the  unnatural  darkness  if  it  had  not  been  impenetrable. 

The  Israelitish  homes,  however,  were  untouched.  But  these  homes  were  full  of  prepara- 
tion, for  now  is  \our  chance,  O  }'e  wronged  Hebrews  !  Snatch  up  what  pieces  of  food  you  can 
and  to  the  desert !  Its  simoons  are  better  than  the  bondage  }ou  have  suffered.  Its  scorpions 
will  not  sting  so  sharply  as  the  wrongs  that  have  stung  you  all  your  lives.  Away  !  The 
man  who  was  cradled  in  the  basket  of  papyrus  on  the  Nile  will  lead  yon.  Up  !  Up  !  This 
is  the  night  of  your  rescue.     They  gather  together  at  a  signal.      Alexander's  armies  and  all 


■  IMBS   OF   THK   CALIPHS,    CAIRO. 


348 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


the  armies  of  olden  time  were  led  by  torches  on  high  poles,  great  crests  of  fire  ;  and  the 
Lord  Almighty  kindles  a  torch  not  held  by  human  hands,  but  by  omnipotent  hand.  Not 
made  out  of  straw  or  oil,  but  kindled  out  of  the  atmosphere,  such  a  torch  as  the  world 
never  saw  before  and  never  will  see  again.  It  readied  from  the  earth  unto  tlie  heaven,  a 
pillar  of  fire,  that  pillar  practically  saying,  "  This  way  i  March  this  way  !  "  On  that  super- 
natural flambeau  more  than  a  million  refugees  set  their  eyes.  Moses  and  Aaron  lead  on. 
Then  come  the  families  of  Israel.  Then  couie  the  herds  and  flocks  moving  on  across  the 
sands  to  what  is  the  l^each  of  waters  now  called  Bahr-el-Kulzum,  but  called  in  the  P^ible 
tlie  Red  Sea.  And  when  I  dipped  my  hands  in  its  blue  waters  the  heroics  of  the  Mosaic 
passage  rolled  over  me. 

After  three  days'  march  the  Israelitish  refugees  encamped  for  the  night  on  the  bank 
of  the  Red  Sea.     As  the  shadows  begin  to  fall,  in  the  distance  is  seen  the  host  of  Pharaoh 

in  pursuit.  Tliere  were 
six  hundred  finest  war 
chariots  followed  by 
common  chariots  roll- 
ing at  full  speed.  And 
the  rumbling  of  the 
wheels  and  the  curse  of 
infuriated  Egyptians 
came  down  with  the 
darkness.  But  the  Lord 
opened  the  crystal  gates 
of  Bahr-el-KuIzum  and 
the  enslaved  Israelites 
passed  into  liberty,  and 
then  the  crystal  gates 
of  the  sea  rolled  shut 
against  the  Egyptian 
pursuers.  It  was  about 
2  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  the  interlocked 
axle-trees  of  the  Egyp- 
tian chariots  could  not 
move  an  inch  either 
way.  But  the  Red  Sea 
unliitched  the  horses,  and  unhelmeted  the  warriors,  and  left  the  proud  host  a  wreck  on  the 
Arabian  sands.  Then  two  choruses  arose,  and  Moses  led  the  men  in  the  one  and  Miriam  led 
the  women  in  the  other,  and  the  women  beat  time  witli  their  feet.  The  record  savs  :  "  .-Ml 
the  women  went  out  after  her  with  timbrels  and  witli  dances.  And  Miriam  answered  them, 
Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He 
thrown  into  the  sea."  What  a  thrilling  story  of  endurance  and  victory  !  The  greatest 
triumph  of  Handel's  genius  was  shown  in  his  immortal  dramatic  oratorio,  "  Israel  in  Egypt." 
He  had  given  to  the  world  the  oratorio  of  "  Estlier  and  Deborah,"  and  "  Afhaliah,"  but 
reserved  for  liis  mightiest  exertion  at  the  full  heiglit  of  his  powers  the  marshaling  of  all 
musical  instruments  to  the  description  in  harmony  of  the  scenes  to  which  I  have  referred. 
He  gave  twenty-seven  days  to  this  production,  with   its  twenty-eight  choru.ses,  enthralling 


-WKNUK   Ul'    Sl'HINXKS    AND    ENTR.\NCE  TO   THE   TKMPLR   OF   KARNAK. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


349 


Eight  hundred  million  of  the  human  race 


his  own  time  and  all  after-time  with  his  "  Israel  in  Egypt."  So  the  burden  of 
oppression  was  lifted,  but  another  burden  of  Egypt  is  made  up  of  deserts.  Indeed, 
Africa  is  a  great  continent  for  deserts — Lib\an  desert,  Sahara  desert,  deserts  here  and 
there,  and  yonder,  condemning  vast  regions  of  Africa  to  barrenness,  one  of  the  deserts 
three  thousand  miles  long  and  a  thousand  miles  wide.  But  all  those  deserts  will 
yet  be  flooded,  and  so  made  fertile.  De  Lesseps  said  it  can  be  done,  and  he  who 
planned  the  Suez  Canal,  which  marries  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean,  knew  what  he 
wa^  talking  about.  The  human  race  is  so  multiplied  that  it  must  have  more  cultivated 
land,  and  the  world  must  abolish  its  deserts 
are  now  living  on  lands  not  blest 
with  rains  but  dependent  on 
irrigation,  and  we  want  by  irri- 
gation to  make  room  for  eisjlit 
hundred  million  more.  By  irri- 
gation the  prophecy  will  be  ful- 
filled, and  "the  desert  will 
blossom  as  the  rose."  So  from 
Egypt  the  burden  of  sand  will 
be  lifted. 

Another  burden  of  Egypt  to 
be  lifted  is  the  burden  of  Mi>- 
hammedanism,  although  there 
are  some  good  things  about  that 
religion.  Its  disciples  must 
always  wash  before  they  prav, 
and  that  is  five  times  a  day.  A 
commendable  grace  is  cleanli- 
ness. Strong  drink  is  positi\-ely 
forbidden  by  Mohammedans,  and 
though  some  may  have  seen  a 
drunken  Mohammedan,  I  never 
saw  one.  It  is  a  religion  of 
sobriety.  Then  they  are  not 
ashamed  of  their  devotions. 
When  the  call  for  prayers  is 
sounded  from  the  minarets  the 
Mohammedan  immediateh-  un- 
rolls the  rug  on  the  ground  and  falls  on  his  knees,  and  crowds  of  spectators  are  to 
him  no  embarrassment — reproof  to  many  a  Christian  who  omits  his  prayers  if  people 
are  looking.  But  Mohammedanism,  with  its  polygamy,  blights  everything  it  touches. 
Mohammed,  its  founder,  had  four  wives,  and  his  followers  are  the  enemies  of  good  woman- 
hood. ^Mohammedanism  puts  its  curse  on  all  Egypt,  and  by  setting  up  a  sinful  Arab  higher 
than  the  immaculate  Christ,  is  an  overwhelming  blasphemy.  May  God  help  the  brave  and 
consecrated  missionaries  who  are  spending  their  lives  in  combating  it ! 

But  before  I  forget  it  I  must  put  more  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  the  last 
outrage  that  resulted  in  the  liberation  of  the  Hebrews  was  their  being  compelled  to 
make  bricks  without  straw.      That  was   the   last  straw   that   broke   the  camel's  back.     God 


DECK   SCENE   ON   A    D\H\I.I    \H. 


350 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


would   allow   the  despotism  against    His  people  to  go  no  further.      Making  bricks  without 
straw  ! 

That  oppression  still  goes  on.  Demand  of  \our  wife  appropriate  wardrobe  and  boun- 
tiful table  without  providing  the  means  necessar\' :  bricks  without  straw.  Cities  demanding 
in  the  public  school  faithful  and  successful  instruction  without  giving  the  teachers  compe- 
tent livelihood  :  bricks  without  straw.  United  States  Government  demanding  of  senators 
and  congressmen  at  Washington  full  attendance  to  the  interests  of  the  people,  but  on  com- 
pensation which  may  have  done  well  enough  when  twenty-five  cents  went  as  far  as  a  dollar 
now,  but  in  these  times  is  not  sufficient  to  preserve  their  influence  and  respectabilit\' : 
bricks  without  straw.  In  many  parts  of  the  land  churches  demanding  of  pastors  vigorous 
sermons  and  svmpathetic  service  on  starvation  salary,  sanctified  Ciceros  on  four  hundred 
dollars  a   year  :  bricks  without  straw.      That    is   one   reason  why   there  are  so  man\-   poor 

bricks.  In  all  departments,  bricks 
not  even,  or  bricks  that  crumble, 
or  bricks  that  are  not  bricks  at 
all.  Work  adequately  paid  for  is 
worth  more  than  work  not  paid 
for.  More  straw  and  then  lietter 
bricks. 

But  in  all  departments  there 
are  Pharaohs :  sometimes  Capital 
a  Pharaoh,  and  sometimes  Labor 
a  Pharaoh.  When  Capital  pros- 
pers, and  makes  large  percentage 
on  its  investment,  and  declines  to 
consider  the  needs  of  the  opera- 
tives, and  treats  them  as  so  manv 
huuian  machines,  their  nerves  no 
more  than  the  bands  on  the  factory 
wheel — then  Capital  is  a  Pha- 
raoh. On  the  other  hand,  wh.eu 
workmen,  not  regarding  the  anxie- 
ties and  business  struggles  of  the 
finn  employing  them,  and  at  a 
time  when  the  firm  are  doing  their  best  to  meet  an  important  contract  and  need  all  hands 
busy  to  accomplish  it,  at  such  a  time  to  have  the  employes  make  a  strike  and  jjut  their 
employers  into  extreme  perplexity  and  severe  loss — then  Labor  becomes  a  Pharaoh  of  the 
worst  oppression,  and  must  look  out  for  the  judgments  of  God. 

When,  in  my  journeyings,  at  the  Mu.seum  at  Boulac,  Egypt,  I  looked  at  the  mum- 
mies of  the  old  Pharaohs,  the  very  miscreants  who  diabolized  centuries,  and  I  saw  their 
teeth  and  hair  and  finger  nails  and  the  flesh  drawn  tight  over  their  cheek  bones,  the  sarco- 
phagi of  these  dead  monarchs  side  by  side,  and  I  was  so  fascinated  I  could  onl\-  with  diffi- 
culty get  away  from  the  spot,  I  was  not  looking  upon  the  last  of  the  Pharaohs.  Pharaoh 
thought  he  did  a  fine  thing,  a  cunning  thing,  a  decisive  thing,  when  for  the  complete 
extinction  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt  he  ordered  all  the  Hebrew  boys  massacred,  but  he  did 
not  find  it  so  fine  a  thing  when  his  own  first-born  that  night  of  the  de.stroying  angel  dropped 
dead  on   the  mosaic  floor  at  the  foot  of  the  porphyry   pillar   of  the  palace.     Let  all  the 


GRKAT    HAI.I.   (IF   COLUMNS,    KARNAK. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


351 


Pharaohs  take  warning.  Some  of  the  worst  of  them  are  on  a  small  scale  in  households,  as 
when  a  man,  because  his  arm  is  strong  and  his  voice  loud,  dominates  his  poor  wife  into  a 
domestic  slavery.  There  are  thousands  of  such  cases,  where  the  wife  is  a  lifetime  serf,  her 
opinion  disregarded,  her  tastes  insulted,  and  her  existence  a  wretchedness,  though  the  world 
ma\'  not  know  it.  It  is  a  Pharaoh  that  sits  at  the  head  of  that  table,  and  a  Pharaoh  that 
tvrannizes  that  home.  There  is  no  more  abhorrent  Pharaoh  than  a  domestic  Pharaoh. 
There  are  thousands  of  women  to  wliom  death  is  passage  from  Eg\pt  to  Canaan,  because 
they  get  rid  of  a  cruel  taskmaster.  What  an  accursed  monster  is  that  man  who  keeps  his 
wife  in  dread  about  family  expenses,  and  must  be  cautious  how  she  introduces  an  article  of 
millinery  or  womanlv  wardrobe  without  humiliating  consultation  and  ajwlogy.  Who  is 
that  man  acting  so?  For  six  months,  in  order  to  win  that  woman's  heart  he  sent  her  every 
few  days  a  bouquet  wound  with  white 
ribbon,  and  an  endearing  couplet,  and 
took  her  to  concerts  and  theatres,  and 
helped  her  into  carriages  as  though 
she  were  a  princess,  and  ran  across  the 
room  to  pick  up  her  pocket-handker- 
chief with  the  speed  of  an  antelope, 
and  on  the  marriage-da\'  promised  all 
that  the  liturgy  required,  .saying,  "  I 
will  !  "  with  an  emphasis  that  excited 
the  admiration  of  all  spectators.  Rut 
now  he  begrudges  her  two  cents  for 
a  postage  stamp,  and  wonders  why  she 
rides  across  Brooklyn  Bridge  when  the 
foot-passage  costs  nothing.  He  thinks 
now  she  is  awful  plain,  and  he  acts 
like  the  devil,  while  he  thunders  out, 
"  Where  did  you  get  that  new  hat  ? 
That's  where  mv  money  goes.  Where's 
my  breakfast  ?  Do  }ou  call  that 
coffee?  What  are  you  whimpering 
about?  Hurry  up  now  and  get  ni}- 
slippers!  Where's  the  newspaper?"  The  tone,  the  look,  the  impatience,  the  cruelty 
of  a  Pharaoh.  That  is  what  gives  ,so  uian\'  women  a  cowed-down  look.  Pharaoh  ! 
you  had  better  take  your  iron  heel  off  that  woman's  neck,  or  God  will  help  you 
remove  your  heel.  She  says  nothing.  For  the  sake  of  avoiding  a  scandal  she  keeps  silent  ; 
but  her  tears  and  wrongs  have  gone  into  a  record  that  you  will  have  to  meet  as  certainly  as 
Pharaoh  had  to  meet  hail,  and  lightning,  and  darkness,  and  the  death  angel.  God  ne\-er 
yet  gave  to  any  man  the  right  to  tyrannize  over  a  woman,  and  wdiat  a  sneak  you  are  to 
take  advantage  of  the  marriage-vow,  and  because  she  cannot  help  herself  and  under  the 
shelter  of  your  own  home  to  out-Pharaoh  the  Egyptian  oppressor.  There  is  .something 
awfully  wrong  in  a  household  where  the  woman  is  not  considered  of  as  much  importance 
as  the  man.      No  room  in  this  world  for  an\-  more  Pharaohs  ' 


l•Kll^^■I,o^"  01 


CHAPTER    XXXVIIl. 

THE  ARCHIPELAGO. 

^— >^  OOD-BYE,  Egypt !  Although  interesting  and  instructive  beyond  any  country  in 
^^<-^  all  the  world,  excepting  the  Holy  Land,  Egypt  was  to  me  somewhat  depressing. 
^  V,  ■  It  was  a  post-mortem  examination  of  cities  that  died  four  thousand  years  ago. 
^^-^^  The  nuimmies,  or  wrapped-up  bodies  of  the  dead,  were  prepared  with  reference 
to  the  Resurrection  Day,  the  Egyptians  departing  this  life  wanting  their  bodies  to  be  kept 
in  as  good  condition  as  possible  so  that  they  would  be  presentable  when  they  were  called 
again  to  occupy  them.  But  if  when  Pharaoh  comes  to  resurrection  he  finds  his  body  look- 
ing as  I  saw  his  nuiuinn-  in  the  Museum  at  Boulac,  his  soul  will  become  an  unwilling  tenant. 
Tlie  Sphinx  also  was  to  me  a  stern  monstrosity,  a  statue  carved  out  of  rock  of  red  granite, 
sixt\-two  feet  high  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty-three  feet  long  and  having  the  head 
of  a  man  and  the  body  of  a  lion.  We  sat  down  in  the  sand  of  the  African  desert  to  study 
it.  With  a  cold  smile  it  has  looked  down  upon  thousands  of  years  of  earthly  history  ; 
Egyptian  civilization,  Grecian  civilization,  Roman  civilization  ;  upon  the  rise  and  fall  of 
thrones  innumerable  ;  the  victory  and  defeat  of  the  armies  of  centuries.  It  took  three 
thousand  vears  to  make  one  wrinkle  on  its  red  cheek.  It  is.dreadful  in  its  stolidit\-.  Its  eyes 
have  never  wept  a  tear.  Its  cold  ears  have  not  listened  to  the  groans  of  the  Egyptian 
nation.  Its  heart  is  stone.  It  cared  not  for  Pliny  when  he  measured  it  in  the  first  century. 
It  will  care  nothing  for  the  man  wlio  looks  into  its  imperturbable  countenance  in  the  last 
centurw 

But  Egvpt  will  yet  come  up  to  tiie  glow  of  life.  The  Bible  promises  it.  The  mis- 
sionaries, like  my  friend,  good  and  great  Doctor  Lansing,  are  sounding  a  resurrection 
trumpet  above  those  slain  empires.  There  will  be  some  other  Joseph  at  ]\Iemphis.  There 
will  be  some  other  :\Ioses  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  There  will  be  some  other  Hypatia  to 
teach  good  morals  to  the  degraded.  When,  soon  after  my  arrival  in  Egypt,  I  took  part  in 
the  solemn  and  tender  obsequies  of  a  missionary  from  our  own  land,  dying  there  far  away 
from  the  sepulchres  of  her  fathers,  and  saw  around  her  the  dusky  and  weeping  congregation 
of  those  whom  she  had  come  to  .save,  I  said  to  myself :  "  Here  is  self-sacrifice  of  the  noblest 
type.  Here  is  heroism  immortal.  Here  is  a  queen  unto  God  forever.  Here  is  something 
grander  than  the  Pyramids.  Here  is  that  which  tlirills  the  heavens.  Here  is  a  specimen  of 
that  which  will  yet  save  the  world." 

Good-b)-e,  Egypt !  This  chapter  finds  us  on  the  steamer  Minerva  in  the  Grecian  Archi- 
pelago, the  islands  of  the  New  Testament,  and  islands  Paulinian  and  Johannian  in  their 
reminiscence.  What  Bradshaw's  Directory  is  to  travelers  in  Europe,  and  what  the  railroad 
guide  is  to  travelers  in  America,  the  Book  of  the  Acts  in  the  Bible  is  to  voyagers  in  the 
Grecian,  or  as  I  sliall  call  it,  the  Gospel  Archipelago.  The  Bible  geography  of  that  region 
is  accurate  without  a  shadow  of  mistake.  We  are  sailing  this  morning  on  tlie  same 
waters  that  Paul  sailed,  but  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  which  Paul  voyaged.  He  was 
mailing  southward  and  we  northward.     With  him  it  was,  Ephesus,  Coos,  Rhodes,  Cyprus ; 

(352) 


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V3.53) 


354  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

with  us  it  is  reversed,  and  it  is  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  Coos,  Ephesus.  There  is  no  book  in  the 
world  so  accurate  as  the  Divine  Book.  Paul  left  Cjprus  on  the  left ;  we,  going  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  have  it  on  the  right. 

We  had  stopped  during  the  night  and  in  the  morning  the  ship  was  as  quiet  as  a  floor, 
when  we  hastened  up  to  the  deck  and  found  that  we  had  anchored  off  the  island  of  C\prus. 
In  a  boat,  which  the  natives  rowed  standing  up,  as  is  the  custom,  instead  of  sitting  down  as 
when  we  row,  we  were  soon  landed  on  the  streets  where  Paul  and  Barnabas  walked  and 
preached.  Yea,  when  at  Antioch  Paul  and  Barnabas  got  into  a  fight — as  ministers  some- 
times did,  and  sometimes  do,  for  they  all  have  imperfections  enough  to  anchor  them  to  this 
world  till  their  work  is  done — I  say,  when  because  of  that  bitter  controversy  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas parted,  Birnabas  came  back  here  to  Cyprus,  which  was  his  birthplace.  Island  won- 
derful for  history  !  It  has  been  the  prize  sometimes  won  by  Persia,  by  Greece,  by  Eg>'pt, 
by  the  Saracens,  hv  the  Crusaders,  and  last  of  all,  not  by  sword  but  by  pen,  and  that  the 
pen  of  the  keenest  diplomatist  of  the  century.  Lord  Beaconsfield,  who  under  a  lease  which 
was  as  good  as  a  purchase,  set  Cyprus  among  the  jewels  of  Victoria's  crown.  We  went  out 
into  the  excavations  from  which  Di  Cesnola  has  enriched  our  American  museums  with  antiq- 
uities, and  with  no  better  weapon  than  our  foot  we  stirred  up  the  ground  deep  enough  to 
get  a  tear-bottle  in  which  some  mourner  shed  his  tears  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  a  lamp 
which  before  Christ  was  born  lighted  the  feet  of  some  poor  pilgrim  on  his  way.  That  island 
of  Cyprus  has  enough  to  set  an  antiquarian  wild.  The  most  of  its  glory  is  the  glory  of  the 
past,  and  the  typhoid  fevers  that  sweep  its  coast,  and  the  clouds  of  locusts  that  often 
blacken  its  skies  (though  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  expended  by  the  British 
Empire  in  one  year  for  the  extirpation  of  these  noxious  insects,  yet  failing  to  do  the  work), 
and  the  frequent  change  of  governmental  masters,  hinder  prosperity.  But  when  the  islands 
of  the  sea  come  to  God,  Cvprus  will  come  with  them,  and  the  agricultural  and  commercial 
opulence  which  adorned  it  in  ages  past  will  be  eclipsed  by  the  agricultural  and  commercial 
and  religious  triumphs  of  the  ages  to  come.  Why  is  the  world  so  stupid  that  it  cannot  see 
that  nations  are  prospered  in  temporal  things  in  proportion  as  they  are  prospered  in  religious 
things?  Godliness  is  profitable  not  only  for  individuals  but  for  nations.  Give  Cyprus  to 
Christ,  give  England  to  Christ,  give  America  to  Christ,  give  the  world  to  Christ,  and  He 
will  give  them  all  a  prosperity  unlimited.  Why  is  Brooklyn  one  of  the  queen  cities  of  the 
earth  ?  Because  it  is  the  queen  city  of  churches.  Blindfold  me  and  lead  me  into  any  city 
of  the  earth  so  tliat  I  cannot  see  a  street  or  a  warehouse  or  a  home,  and  then  lead  me  into 
the  churches  and  then  remove  the  bandage  from  my  e\'es,  and  I  will  tell  you  from  what  I 
see  inside  the  consecrated  walls,  having  seen  nothing  outside,  what  is  that  cit\'s  merchan- 
dise, its  literature,  its  schools,  its  printing-presses,  its  go\-ernment,  its  homes,  its  arts,  its 
sciences,  its  prosperity,  or  its  depression,  and  ignorance,  and  pauperism  and  outlawry.  The 
altar  of  God  in  the  church  is  the  high-water  mark  of  the  world's  happiness.  The  Christian 
religion  triumphant,  all  other  interests  triumphant.  The  Christian  religion  low  down,  all 
other  interests  low  down.  So  I  thought  as  on  the  evening  of  that  day  we  stepped 
from  the  filthy  streets  of  Larnaca,  Cyprus,  on  to  the  boat  that  took  us  back  to 
the  steamer,  which  had  already  begun  to  paw  the  waves  like  a  courser  impatient  to 
be  gone,  and  then  we  moved  on  and  up  among  the  islands  of  this  Gospel  Archipelago. 
Night  came  down  on  land  and  sea  and  the  voyage  became  to  me  more  and  more  sugges- 
tive and  solemn.  If  you  are  pacing  it  alone,  a  ship's  deck  in  the  darkness  and  at  sea  is  a 
weird  place,  and  an  active  imagination  may  conjure  up  almost  any  shape  he  will,  and  it 
shall  walk  the  sea  or  confront  him  by  the  smoke-stack,  or  meet  him  under  the  captain's 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


355 


bridge.  But  here  I  was  alone  on  ship's  deck  in  the  Gospel  Archipelago,  and  do  you  wonder 
that  the  sea  was  populous  with  the  past  and  that  down  the  ratlines  Bible  memories 
descended  ?  Our  friends  had  all  gone  to  their  berths.  "  Captain,"  I  said,  ''  when 
shall  we  arrive  at  the  Island  of  Rhodes?"  Looking  out  from  under  his  glazed  cap, 
he  responded  in  sepulchral  voice  :  "  About  midnight."  Though  it  would  be  keeping 
unseasonable  hours,  I  concluded  to  stay  on  deck,  for  I  must  see  Rhodes,  one  of  the 
islands  associated  with  the  name  of  the  greatest  missionary  the  world  ever  saw  or 
ever  will  see.  Paul  landed  there  and  that  was  enough  to  make  it  famous  while  the 
world    stands,   and    famous    in    heaven    when    the    world    has    become    a    charred    wreck. 


Lis^ti 


'h^j^ 


ill 


■  i-.m  'mh 


'4g-'^:^wlwl:.. 


CHURCH     OF    SAN'    r.l':OKG)(>    M  Al.,( .!( IK  H,     N'KNIL'H,     ITALY. 

This  island  has  had  a  wonderful  history.  With'  six  thousand  Knights  of  St.  John,  it  at 
one  time  stood  out  against  two  hundred  thousand  warriors  under  "  Sohnian  the  Magnifi- 
cent." The  citv  had  three  thousand  statues,  and  a  statue  to  Apollo  called  Colossus,  which 
has  always  since  been  considered  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  was  twelve 
vears  in  building  and  was  seventy  cubits  high,  and  had  a  winding  stairs  to  the  top.  It  stood 
fifty-six  years  and  then  was  prostrated  by  an  earthquake.  After  lying  in  ruins  for  nine 
hundred  years,  it  was  purchased  to  be  converted  to  other  purposes,  and  the  metal,  weighing 
seven  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds,  was  put  on  nine  hundred  camels  and  carried 
away.  We  were  not  permitted  to  go  ashore,  but  the  lights  all  up  and  down  the  hills  show 
where  the  citv  stands,  and  nine  boats  come  out  to  take  freight  and  to  bring  three  passengers. 


356  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

Yet  all  the  thousands  of  years  of  its  history  are  eclipsed  by  the  few  hours  or  days  that  Paul 
stopped  there. 

As  we  move  on  up  through  this  Archipelago,  I  am  reminded  of  what  an  important  part 
the  islands  have  taken  in  the  history  of  the  world.  They  are  necessary  to  the  balancing 
of  the  planet.  The  two  hemispheres  must  have  them.  As  you  put  down  upon  a  scale  the 
heavy  pound  weights,  and  then  tlie  small  ounces,  and  no  one  thinks  of  despising  the  small 
weights,  so  the  continents  are  the  pounds  and  the  islands  are  the  ounces.  A  continent  is 
only  a  larger  island  and  an  island  only  a  smaller  continent.  Something  of  what  part  the 
islands  have  taken  in  the  world's  history  )-ou  will  see  when  I  remind  you  that  the  island  of 
Salamis  produced  Solon,  and  that  the  island  of  Chios  produced  Homer,  and  the  island  of 
Samos  produced  Pythagoras   and  the  island  of  Coos  produced  Hippocrates. 

But  there  is  one  island  that  I  longed  to  see  more  than  any  other.  I  can  afford  to  miss 
the  princes  among  the  islands,  but  I  must  see  the  king  of  the  Archipelago.  The  one  I 
longed  to  see  is  not  so  many  miles  in  circumference  as  Cyprus  or  Crete  or  Paros  or  Naxos 
or  Scio  or  Mitylene,  but  I  would  rather,  in  this  sail  through  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  see 
that  than  all  the  others  ;  for  more  of  the  glories  of  heaven  landed  there  than  on  all  tlie 
islands  and  continents  since  the  world  stood.  As  we  come  toward  it  I  feel  my  pulses 
quicken.  "  I,  John,  was  in  the  island  that  is  called  Patmos."  It  is  a  pile  of  rocks  twenty- 
eight  miles  in  circumference.  A  few  cypresses  and  inferior  olives  pump  a  living  out  of  the 
earth,  and  one  palm  tree  spreads  its  foliage.  But  the  barrenness  and  gloom  and  loneliness 
of  the  island  made  it  a  prison  for  the  banished  evangelist.  Domitian  could  not  stand  his 
ministry  and  one  day,  rmder  armed  guard,  that  minister  of  the  Gospel  stepped  from  a  tossing 
boat  to  these  dismal  rocks,  and  walked  up  to  the  dismal  cavern  which  was  to  be  his  home 
and  the  place  where  should  pass  before  him  all  the  conflicts  of  coming  time  and  all  the 
raptures  of  a  coming  eternity.  Is  it  not  remarkable  that  nearh-  all  the  great  revelations  of 
music  and  poetry  and  religion  have  been  made  to  men  in  banishment ! — Homer  and  Milton 
banished  into  blindness ;  Beethoven  banished  into  deafness  ;  Dante  writing  his  Divina 
Commedia  during  the  nineteen  years  of  banishment  from  his  native  land  ;  Victor  Hugo 
writing  his  Les  Miserables  exiled  from  home  and  country  on  the  island  of  Guernsey,  and 
the  brightest  visions  of  the  future  have  been  given  to  those  who  by  sickness  or  sorrow  were 
exiled  from  the  outer  world  into  rooms  of  suffering.  Only  those  who  have  been  imprisoned 
by  very  hard  surroundings  have  had  great  revelations  made  to  them.  So  Patmos,  wild, 
chill  and  bleak  and  terrible,  was  the  best  island  in  all  the  Archipelago,  the  best  place  in  all 
the  earth  for  divine  revelations.  Before  a  panorama  can  be  successfully  seen,  the  room  in 
which  you  sit  must  be  darkened,  and  in  the  presence  of  John  was  to  pass  such  a  panorama 
as  no  man  ever  before  saw  or  ever  will  see  in  this  world,  and  hence  the  gloom  of  his 
surroundings  was  a  help  rather  than  a  hindrance.  All  the  surroundings  of  the  place 
affected  vSt.  John's  imagery  when  he  speaks  of  heaven.  St.  John,  hungry  from  enforced 
abstinence,  or  having  no  food  except  that  at  which  his  appetite  revolted,  thinks  of  heaven  ; 
and  as  the  famished  man  is  apt  to  dream  of  bountiful  tables  covered  with  luxuries,  so  St. 
John  says  of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  "  Thev  shall  hunger  no  more."  vScarcity  of  fresh 
water  on  Patmos,  and  the  hot  tongue  of  St.  Jolni's  thirst  leads  him  to  admire  heaven  as  he 
says,  "They  shall  thirst  no  more."  St.  John  hears  the  waves  of  the  sea  wildly  dashing 
against  the  rocks,  and  each  wave  has  a  voice  and  all  the  waves  together  make  a  chorus  and 
they  remind  liim  of  the  multitudinous  anthems  of  heaven  ;  and  he  says,  "  They  are  like 
the  voice  of  many  waters."  One  day,  as  he  looked  off  upon  the  sea,  the  waters  were  very 
smooth,  as  it  was  the  day  we  sailed  them,  and  they  were  like  glass  and  the  sunlight  seemed 


\ 


t-. 


"-SXjgr 


35S  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

to  set  them  ou  fire,  and  there  was  a  mingling  of  white  light  and  intense  flame;  and  as 
St.  John  looked  ont  from  his  cavern  home  upon  that  brilliant  sea,  he  thought  of  the 
splendors  of  heaven  and  describes  them  "  as  a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire."  Yes,  seated 
in  the  dark  cavern  of  Patmos,  though  homesick  and  hungry  and  loaded  with  Domitian's 
anathemas,  St.  John  was  the  most  fortunate  man  on  earth  because  of  the  panorama  that 
passed  before  the  mouth  of  that  cavern. 

Turn  down  all  the  lights  that  we  may  better  see  it.  The  panorama  passes,  and  lo !  the 
conquering  Christ,  robed,  girdled,  armed,  the  flash  of  golden  candlesticks,  and  seven  stars  in 
His  right  hand,  candlesticks  and  stars  meaning  light  held  up  and  light  scattered.  And 
there  passes  a  throne  and  Christ  on  it,  and  the  seals  are  broken,  and  the  woes  sounded,  and 
a  dragon  slain,  and  seven  last  plagues  swoop,  and  seven  vials  are  poured  out,  and  the  vision 
vanishes.  And  we  halt  a  moment  to  rest  from  the  exciting  spectacle.  Again  the  panorama 
moves  on  before  the  cavern  of  Patmos,  and  John  the  exile  sees  a  great  city  representing  all 
abominations,  Babylon  towered,  palaced,  templed,  fountained,  foliaged,  sculptured,  hanging- 
gardened,  suddenly  going  crash  !  crash  !  and  the  pipers  cease  to  pipe,  and  the  trumpets 
cease  to  trumpet,  and  the  dust  and  the  smoke  and  the  horror  fill  the  canvas,  while  from 
above  and  beneath  are  voices  announcing,  "  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen  !  "  And  we  halt 
again  to  rest  from  the  spectacle.  Again  the  panorama  moves  on  before  the  cavern  of 
Patmos,  and  John  the  exile  beholds  a  city  of  gold,  and  a  river  more  beautiful  than  the 
Rhine  or  the  Hudson  rolls  through  it,  and  fruit  trees  bend  their  burdens  on  either  bank, 
and  all  is  surrounded  by  walls  in  which  the  upholster}'  of  autumnal  forests,  and  the  sunrises 
and  sunsets  of  all  the  ages,  and  the  glory  of  burning  worlds  seem  to  be  commingled.  And 
the  inhabitants  never  breathe  a  sigh,  or  utter  a  groan,  or  discuss  a  difference,  or  frown  a 
dislike,  or  weep  a  tear.  The  fashion  they  wear  is  pure  white,  and  their  foreheads  are 
encircled  by  garlands,  and  they  who  were  sick  are  well,  and  they  who  were  old  are  young, 
and  thev  who  were  bereft  are  reunited.  .And  as  the  last  figure  of  that  panorama  rolled  out 
of  sight,  I  think  that  John  must  have  fallen  back  into  his  cavern,  nerveless  and  exhausted. 
Too  much  was  it  for  hiunan  eye  to  look  at.  Too  much  was  it  for  human  strength  to 
experience. 

As  on  that  day  in  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  Patmos  began  to  fade  out  of  sight,  I 
walked  to  the  stern  of  the  ship  that  I  might  keep  my  eye  on  the  enchantment  as  long  as  I 
could,  and  the  voice  that  sounded  out  of  heaven  to  John  the  exile  in  the  cavern  on  Patmos 
seemed  sounding  in  the  waters  that  dashed  against  the  side  of  our  ship  :  "  Behold,  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people, 
and  God  Himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall 
there  be  any  more  pain  :  for  the  fonner  things  are  passed  away." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

EPHESUS. 

OUR  next  landing  was  at  Smyrna,  a  city  of  Asiatic  Turkey.  One  of  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia  once  stood  here.  You  read  in  Revelation,  "  To  the  church'  in 
Smyrna  write."  It  is  a  city  that  has  often  been  shaken  by  earthquake,  swept 
by  conflagration,  blasted  by  plagues,  and  butchered  by  war,  and  here  Bishop 
Polycarp  stood  in  a  crowded  amphitheatre,  and  when  he  was  asked  to  give  up  the  advocacy 
of  the  Christian  religion  and  save  himself  from  niart}-rdom,  the  pro-consul  saying,  "  Swear 
and  I  release  thee  ;  reproach  Christ,"  replied  :  "  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  served  Him, 
and  He  never  did  me  wrong;  how  then  can  I  revile  my  King  and  Saviour?"  When  he 
was  brought  to  the  fires  into  which  he  was  about  to  be  thrust,  and  the  officials  were  about 
to  fasten  him  to  the  stake,  he  said  :  "  Let  me  remain  as  I  am,  for  He  who  giveth  me  strength 
to  sustain  the  fire  will  enable  me  also,  without  your  securing  me  with  nails,  to  remain 
nnn:oved  in  the  fire."  History  says  the  fires  refused  to  consume  him  ;  and  under  the  winds 
the  flames  bent  outward  so  that  they  did  not  touch  his  person,  and  therefore  he  was  slain 
by  swords  and  spears.  One  cypress  bending  over  his  grave  is  the  only  monument  to  Bishop 
Polycarp. 

But  we  are  on  the  way  to  the  city  of  Ephesus.  We  must  see  Ephesus — associated 
with  the  most  wonderful  apostolic  scenes.  We  hire  a  special  railway  train,  and  in  about  an 
hour  and  a  half  we  arrive  at  the  city  of  Ephesus,  which  was  called  "  The  Great  Metropolis 
of  Asia,"  and  "One  of  the  Eyes  of  Asia,"  and  "The  Empress  of  Ionia,"  the  capital  of 
all  learning  and  magnificence.  Here,  as  I  said,  was  one  of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia,  and 
first  of  all  we  visit  the  ruins  of  that  church  where  once  an  ^Ecumenical  Council  of  two 
thousand  ministers  of  religion  was  held. 

Mark  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  !  Of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia,  four  were 
commended  in  the  book  of  Revelation  and  three  were  doomed.  The  cities  having  the 
four  commended  churches  still  stand  ;  the  cities  having  the  three  doomed  churches  are 
wiped  out.  It  occurred  just  as  the  Bible  said  it  would  occur.  Drive  on  and  you  come  to 
the  theatre,  which  was  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet  from  wall  to  wall,  capable  of  holding 
fifty-six  thousand  seven  hundred  spectators.  Here  and  there  the  walls  arise  almost  unbroken, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  building  is  down.  Just  enough  of  it  is  left  to  help  the  imagination 
build  it  up  as  it  was  when  those  audiences  shouted  and  clapped  at  some  great  spectacle. 
Their  huzzas  must  have  been  enough  to  stun  the  heavens.  Standing  there,  we  could  not 
forget  that  in  that  building  once  assembled  a  throng  riotous  for  Paul's  condemnation, 
because  what  he  preached  collided  with  the  idolatry  of  their  national  goddess.  Paul  tried  to 
get  into  that  theatre  and  address  the  excited  multitude,  but  his  friends  held  him  back  lest 
he  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the  mob,  and  the  recorder  of  the  city  had  to  read  the  Riot  Act 
among  the  people  who  had  shrieked  for  two  mortal  hours,  til!  their  throats  were  sore  and 
they  were  black  in  the  face,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians." 

(359) 


360 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


Now  we  step  into  the  Stadium.  Enough  of  its  walls  and  appointments  is  left  to  show 
•what  a  stupendous  place  it  must  have  been  when  used  for  foot  races  and  for  fights  with  wild 
beasts.  It  was  a  building  six  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long  and  two  hundred  feet 
wide.  Paul  refers  to  what  transpired  there  in  the  way  of  spectacle  when  he  says 
"We  have  been  made  a  spectacle."  Yes,  Paul  says,  "I  have  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus,"  an  expression  usually  taken  as  figurative,  but  I  suppose  it  was  literally 
true,  for  one  of  the  amusements  in  that  Stadium  was  to  put  a  disliked  man  in  the  arena 
with  a  hungry  lion  or  tiger  or  panther,  and  let  the  fight  go  on  until  either  the  man 
or  the  beast  or  both  were  slain.  And  was  there  ever  a  more  unequal  combat  proposed  ? 
Paul,   according    to    tradition,   small,    crooked-backed    and    weak-ejed,    but    the   grandest 


KPHESUS    RHSTORRD. 


man  in  .sixty  centuries,  is  led  to  the  centre,  as  the  people  shout,  "  There  he  comes,  the 
preacher  who  has  nearly  ruined  our  religion.  The  lion  will  make  but  a  brief  mouthful 
of  him."  It  is  plain  that  all  the  sympathies  of  that  crowd  are  with  the  lion.  In  one 
of  the  underground  rooms  I  hear  the  growl  of  the  wild  beasts.  They  have  been  kept 
for  several  days  without  food  or  water,  in  order  that  they  may  be  especially  ravenous  and 
bloodthirsty.  What  chance  is  there  for  Paul  ?  But  you  cannot  tell  by  a  man's  size  or 
looks  how  stout  a  blow  he  can  strike  or  how  keen  a  blade  he  can  thrust.  W^itness,  heaven 
and  earth  and  hell,  this  struggle  of  Paul  with  a  wild  beast.  The  coolest  man  in  the  Sta- 
dium is  Paul.  What  has  he  to  fear?  He  has  defied  all  the  powers,  earthly  and  infernal, 
and  if  his  body  tumble  under  the  foot  and  tooth  of  the  wild  beast,  his  soul  will  only  the 
sooner  find  disenthralment.     But  it  is  his  duty,  as  far  as  possible,  to  preserve  his  life.     Now 


(3>5i) 


362  THE  EARTH   GIRDLED. 

I  hear  the  bolt  of  the  wild  beast's  door  shove  back,  and  the  Avhole  audience  rise  to  their 
feet  as  the  fierce  brute  springs  for  the  arena  and  toward  its  small  occupant.  But  the  little 
missionary  has  his  turn  of  making  attack,  and  with  a  few  well-directed  thrusts  the  monster 
lies  dead  in  the  dust  of  the  arena,  and  the  apostle  puts  his  right  foot  on  the  lion  and  shakes 
him,  and  then  puts  his  left  foot  on  him  and  shakes  him — a  scene  which  Paul  afterward 
uses  for  an  illustration  when  he  wants  to  show  how  Christ  will  triumph  over  death  :  "  He 
must  reign  till  He  hath  put  all  enemies  under  His  feet ;  "  yes,  under  His  feet.  Paul  told  the 
literal  truth  when  he  said,  "  1  have  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,"  and  as  the  plural  is  used 
I  think  he  had  more  than  one  such  fight,  or  several  beasts  were  let  loose  upon  him  at  one 
.  time.  As  we  stood  that  day  in  the  middle  of  the  Stadium  and  looked  around  at  the  great 
structure  the  whole  scene  came  back  upon  us. 

But,  we  pass  out  of  the  Stadium,  for  we  are  in  haste  for  other  places  of  interest  in 
Ephesus.  To  add  to  the  excitement  of  the  day  one  of  our  party  was  missing.  No  man  is 
safe  in  that  region  alone  unless  he  be  armed  and  know  how  to  take  sure  aim  and  not  miss 
fire.  Our  companion  had  gone  out  on  some  explorations  of  his  own,  and  through  the  gate 
where  Paul  had  walked  again  and  again,  }-et  where  no  man  unaccompanied  should  venture 
now.  But,  after  some  time  had  passed,  and  every  minute  se'emed  as  long  as  an  hour,  and 
we  had  time  to  imagine  everything  horrible  in  the  way  of  robbery  and  assassination,  the 
lost  traveler  appeared,  to  receive  from  our  entire  party  a  volley  of  expostulation  for  the 
arousal  of  so  many  anxieties. 

In  the  midst  of  this  city  of  Ephesus  once  floated  an  artificial  lake,  brilliant  with  painted 
boats  and  through  the  River  Caystros  it  was  connected  with  the  sea,  and  ships  from  all 
parts  of  the  known  earth  floated  in  and  out  carrying  on  a  commerce  which  made  Ephesus 
the  envy  of  the  world.  Great  was  Ephesus!  Its  gymnasia,  its  hippodrome,  its  odeon,  its 
athemeum,  its  forum,  its  aqueducts  (whose  skeletons  are  still  strewn  along  the  city),  its 
towers,  its  castle  of  Hadrian,  its  monument  of  Androclus,  its  quarries,  which  were  the 
granite  cradle  of  cities  ;  its  temples,  built  to  Apollo,  to  Minerva,  to  Neptune,  to  Mercuiy, 
to  Bacchus,  to  Hercules,  to  Cassar,  to  Fortune,  to  Jupiter  Olympus.  That  which  history  and 
poetry  and  chisel  and  canvas  have  not  presented,  has  come  up  at  the  call  of  archaeologists' 
powder-blast  and  crowbar. 

But  I  have  now  to  unveil  the  chief  wonder  of  this  chiefest  of  cities.  In  1863,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  English  Government,  Mr.  Wood,  the  explorer,  began  at  Ephesus  to 
feel  along  under  the  ground  at  great  depths  for  roads,  for  walls,  for  towers,  and  here  it  is — 
that  for  which  Ephesus  was  more  celebrated  than  all  else  besides — the  Temple  of  the  God- 
dess Diana,  called  the  sixth  wonder  of  the  world  ;  and  we  stood  awhile  amid  the  ruins  of 
that  temple,  measuring  its  pillars,  transfixed  by  its  sculpture,  and  confounded  at  what  was 
the  greatest  temple  of  idolatry  in  all  time.  As  I  sat  on  a  piece  of  one  of  its  fallen  columns, 
I  said,  "What  earthquake  rocked  it  down,  or  what  hurricane  pushed  it  to  the  earth,  or 
under  what  strong  wind  of  centuries  did  the  giant  struggle  and  fall  ?  "  There  have  been 
seven  temples  of  Diana,  the  ruins  of  each  contributing  .something  for  the  splendor  of  all 
its  architectural  successors.  Two  hundred  and  twenty  years  was  this  last  temple  in  con- 
struction. Twice  as  long  as  the  United  States  has  stood  was  that  temple  in  building.  It 
w-as  nearly  twice  as  large  as  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London.  Lest  it  should  be  disturbed  by 
earthquakes,  which  have  alwa^-s  been  fond  of  making  those  regions  their  play-ground,  the 
temple  was  built  on  a  marsh,  which  was  made  firm  by  layers  of  charcoal  covered  by  fleeces 
of  wool.  The  stone  came  from  the  quarry  near-by.  After  it  was  decreed  to  build  the 
temple,  it  was  thought  it  would  be  necessary  to  bring  the  building  stone  from  other  lands, 


I 


f^^" 


p:-^' 


f#.;' 


.^ 


STATUE    OF    DIANA   IX    THE   EPHESIAN    TEMI'LE. 


(363) 


364  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

but  one  day  a  shepherd  b\-  the  name  of  Pixodorus,  while  watching  his  flocks,  saw  two 
rains  fighting,  and  as  they  missed  the  interlocking  of  their  horns  and  one  fell,  his  horn 
knocked  a  splinter  from  the  rock  and  showed  by  that  splinter  the  lustrous  whiteness  of  the 
rock.  The  shepherd  ran  to  the  city  with  a  piece  of  that  stone,  which  revealed  a  quarry 
from  which  place  the  temple  was  built,  and  every  month  in  all  ages  since,  the  mavor  of 
Ephesus  goes  to  that  quarry  to  offer  sacrifices  to  the  memor\-  of  that  shepherd  who  discov- 
ered this  source  of  splendor  and  wealth  for  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor.  In  removing  the 
great  stones  from  the  quarry  to  their  destnied  places  in  the  temple,  it  was  necessary,  in 
order  to  keep  the  wheels,  which  were  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  from  sinking  deep  into  the 
earth  under  the  unparalleled  heft,  that  a  frame  of  timbers  be  arranged  over  which  the 
wheels  rolled.  To  put  the  immen.se  block  of  marble  in  its  place  over  the  doorwav  of  one 
of  these  temples  was  so  vast  and  difficult  an  undertaking  that  the  architect  at  one  time 
gave  it  up,  and  in  his  chagrin  intended  suicide ;  but  one  night  in  his  sleep  he  dreamt  that 
the  stone  had  settled  to  the  right  j^lace,  and  the  next  day  he  found  that  the  great  block  of 
marble  had  by  its  own  weight  settled  to  the  right  place.  The  Temple  of  Diana  was  four 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  long  by  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  wide.  All  Asia  was 
taxed  to  pay  for  it.  It  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pillars,  each  sixty  feet  high,  and 
each  the  gift  of  a  king  and  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  donor.  Now  you  see  the  mean- 
ing of  that  passage  in  Revelation,  just  as  a  king  presenting  one  of  these  pillars  to  the  Tem- 
ple of  Diana  had  his  ow^n  name  chiseled  on  it  and  the  name  of  his  own  countr\-,  so  savs 
Christ :  "  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  I  will 
write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  which  is  New 
Jerusalem,  and  I  will  write  upon  him  my  new  name."     How  suggestive  and  beautiful  ! 

In  addition  to  those  pillars  that  I  climbed  over  while  amid  the  ruins  of  Diana's 
Temple,  I  saw  afterward  eight  of  those  pillars  in  Constantinople,  to  which  city  the)-  had 
been  removed,  and  are  now  a  part  of  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia.  Those  eight  columns  are 
all  green  jasper,  but  some  of  those  which  stood  in  Diana's  Temple  at  Ephesus  were  fairly 
drenched  with  brilliant  colors.  Costly  metals  stood  up  in  various  parts  of  the  temple, 
where  they  could  catch  the  fullest  flush  of  the  sun.  A  flight  of  stairs  was  carved  out  of  one 
grape  vine.  Doors  of  cypress  wood  which  had  been  kept  in  glue  for  years  and  bordered 
with  bronze  in  bas-relief,  swung  against  pillars  of  brass,  and  resounded  with  echo  upon  echo, 
caught  up,  and  sent  on,  and  hurled  back  through  the  corridors.  In  that  building  stood  an 
image  of  Diana,  the  goddess.  The  impression  was  abroad,  as  the  Bible  records,  that  that 
image  dropped  plumb  out  of  heaven  into  that  temple,  and  the  sculptors  who  really  made 
the  statue  or  image  were  put  to  death,  so  that  they  could  not  testify  of  its  manufacture  and 
so  deny  its  celestial  origin.  But  the  material  out  of  which  the  image  of  Diana  v/as  fash- 
ioned contradicts  that  notion.  This  image  was  carved  out  of  ebony  and  punctured  here 
and  there  with  openings  kept  full  of  spikenard  so  as  to  hinder  the  statue  from  decaying 
and  make  it  aromatic,  but  this  ebony  was  covered  with  bronze  and  alabaster.  A  necklace 
of  acorns  coiled  gracefully  around  her.  There  were  four  lions  on  each  arm,  typical  of 
strength.  Her  head  was  coronetted.  Around  this  figure  stood  statues  which  by  wonderful 
invention  shed  tears.  The  air  by  strange  machinery  was  damp  with  descending  perfumes. 
The  walls  multiplied  the  scene  b}-  concaved  mirrors.  Fountains  tossed  in  sheaves  of  light 
and  fell  in  showers  of  diamonds.  One  painting  in  that  temple  cost  $193,750.  The  treas- 
ures of  all  nations  and  the  spoils  of  kingdoms  were  kept  here  for  safe  deposit.  Criminals 
from  all  lands  fled  to  the  shelter  of  this  temple,  and  the  law  could  not  touch  them.  It 
seemed  almost  strange  that  this  mountain  of  architectural  snow  outside  did  not  melt  with 


THE    WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


365 


the  fires  of  color  within.  The  temple  was  surrounded  with  groves,  in  which  roamed  for 
the  temptation  of  hunters,  stags  and  hares  and  wild  boars,  and  all  styles  of  game,  whether 
winged  or  four-footed.  There  was  a  cave  with  statue  so  intensely  brilliant  that  it  extin- 
guished the  eyes  of  those  who  looked  upon  it,  unless,  at  the  command  of  the  priests,  the 
hand  of  the  spectator  somewhat  shaded  the  eyes.  No  wonder  that  even  Anthony  and 
Alexanacr  and  Darius  cried  out  in  the  words  of  my  text :  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephe- 
sians." 

One  n.onth  ot  each  year,  the  month  of  May,  was  devoted  to  her  worship.     Processions 
in  garbs  of  purple  and  violet  and  scarlet  moved    through  the  temple,  and  lluir  wt-n-  torches, 


WHIRLING    DERVISHES   OF   CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Dervish  is  a  Persian  word  signifying  poor,  but  anioug  Mohammedans  it  is  a  designation  of  a  religions  class  corresponding  to 
Monks  in  Christian  countries.  Their  devotional  exercises  consist  in  meetings  for  worship,  prayers,  morlifications  and  dances-  These 
latter  are  confined  to  turning  around  for  a  long  while,  the  whirling  movement  being  continued  at  times  for  as  much  as  an  hour. 

and  anthems,  and  choirs  in  white,  and  timbrels  and  triangles  in  music,  sacrifices  and  dances. 
Here  young  men  and  maidens  were  betrothed  with  imposing  ceremoin'.  Nations  voted 
large  amounts  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  worship.  Fisheries  of  vast  resource  were  de\'oted 
to  the  support  of  this  resplendence.  Horace  and  \'irgil  and  Homer  went  into  rhapsodies 
while  describing  this  worship.  All  artists,  all  archseologists,  all  centuries  agreed  in  saying, 
"  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  Paul  in  the  presence  of  this  Temple  of  Diana  incor- 
porates it  in   his  figures  of  speech  while  speaking  of  the   spiritual   temple  :  "  Now,  if  any 


366 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


man  build  upon  this  foundation  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  etc.,"  and  no  doubt  with  refer- 
ence to  one  of  the  previous  temples  which  had  been  set  on  fire  bj'  Herostratus  just  for  the 
fame  of  destro\-ing'  it,  Paul  says:  "If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss, 
etc.,"  and  all  up  and  down  Paul's  writings  you  realize  that  he  had  not  only  seen,  but  had 
been  mightily  impressed  with  what  he  had  seen  of  the  Temple  of  Diana. 

In  this  city  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  said  to  have  been  buried.  Here  dwelt  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  of  Bible  mention,  who  were  professors  in  an  extemporized  theological  seminar)', 
and  they  taught  the  eloquent  Apollos  how  to  be  eloquent  for  Christ.  Here  John  preached, 
and  from  here  because  of  his  fidelity  he  was  exiled  to  Patmos.  Here  Paul  warred  against 
the  magical  arts  for  which  Ephesus  was  famous.  The  sorcerers  of  this  city  pretended  that" 
they  could  cure  diseases  and  perform  almost  any  miracle,  by  pronouncing  these  senseless 
words :  "  Aski  Cataski  Lix  Tetrax  Damnamenens  Aision."  Paul  having  performed  a 
miracle  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  there  was  a  lying  family  of  seven  brothers  who  imitated  the 

apostle,  and  instead  of  their 
usual  words  of  incantation, 
used  the  word  Jesus  over  a 
man  who  was  possessed  of  a 
devil,  and  the  man  possessed 
flew  at  them  in  great  fierce- 
ness and  nearly  tore  these 
frauds  to  pieces,  and  in  con- 
sequence all  up  and  down 
tlie  streets  of  Ephesus  there 
was  indignation  excited 
against  the  magical  arts,  and 
a  great  bonfire  of  magical 
books  was  kindled  in  the 
streets,  and  the  people  stirred 
the  blaze  until  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
black  art  literature  was 
burned  to  ashes. 

But  all  the  glory  of 
Ephesus  I  have  described  has  gone  now.  At  some  seasons  of  the  year  awful  malarias 
sweep  over  the  place  and  put  upon  mattress  or  in  graves  a  large  portion  of  the  population. 
In  the  approximate  marshes  scorpions,  centipedes  and  all  forms  of  reptilian  life  crawl 
and  hiss  and  sting,  while  hyenas  and  jackals  at  night  slink  in  and  out  of  the  ruins  of 
buildings  which  once  startled  the  nations  with  their  almost  supernatural  grandeur. 

But  here  is  a  lesson  which  has  never  yet  been  drawn  out.  Do  \ou  not  see  in  that 
Temple  of  Diana  an  expression  of  what  the  world  needs  ?  It  wants  a  God  who  can  provide 
food.  Diana  was  a  huntress.  In  pictures  on  manv  of  the  coins  she  held  a  stag  b\'  a  horn 
with  one  hand  and  a  bundle  of  arrows  in  the  other.  Oh,  this  is  a  hungrv  world  !  Diana 
could  not  give  one  pound  of  meat  or  one  mouthful  of  food  to  the  millions  of  her  wor- 
shipers. ,  She  was  a  dead  divinity,  an  imaginary  God,  and  so  in  idolatrous  lands  the  vast 
majority  of  people  never  have  enough  to  eat.  It  is  onlv  in  the  countries  where  the  God  of 
heaven  and  earth  is  worshiped  that  the  vast  majority  have  enough  to  eat.  Let  Diana 
have  her  arrows  and  her    hounds  ;  our  God  has  the  sunshine  and    the  sliowers  and   the 


1 


GYMNASIUM,    EPHESI 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


367 


harvests,  and  in  proportion  as  He  is  worshiped  does  plenty  reign.      So  also  in  the  Temple  of 

Diana  the  world  expressed  its  need  of  a  refuge.       To  it  from  all  parts  of  the  land  came 

debtors  who  could  not  pay  their  debts  and  the  offenders  of  the  law,  that  they  might  escape 

incarceration.       But  she  sheltered  them  only  a  little  while,  and  while  she  kept  them   from 

arrest  she  could  not  change  their  hearts  and  the  guilty  remained  guilty.       But  our  God   in 

Jesus  Christ  is  a  sure  refuge  into  which  we   may  fly  from  all  our  sins  and  all  our  pursuers, 

and  not  only  be  safe  for  time  but  safe  for  eternity,  and  the  guilt  is  pardoned  and  the  nature 

is  transfonned.     What  Diana  could  not  do  for   her   worshipers,  our    Christ    accomplishes 

for  us. 

"  Rock  of  ages  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee." 

Then,  in   that  temple  were  deposited    treasures  from  all   the  earth  for  safe  keeping. 
Chrysostom  says  it  was  tiie   treasure-house  of  nations;  they  brought  gold  and  silver  and 


ANCIIiNT  CORINTH — RESTORED. 

Corinth  was  a  magnificent  city  situated  on  the  isthmus  which  connected  Hellas  with  the  Peloponnesus,  and  was  defended  by 
the  strongest  natural  citadel  in  all  Europe  The  city  itself  lay  on  a  broad  level  rock  nearly  200  feet  above  the  isthmus,  and  became 
leagued  with  Greece  395  B  C.     It  was  in  Corinth  that  St.  Paul  planted  the  first  Christian  church,  to  which  he  addressed  two  epistles. 


precious  stones  and  coronets  from  across  the  sea,  and  put  them  under  the  care  of  Diana  of 
Ihe  Ephesians.  But,  again  and  ngain  were  those  treasures  ransacked,  captured  or  destroyed. 
Nero  robbed  them,  the  Scythians  scattered  them,  the  Goths  burned  them.  Diana  failed 
those  who  trusted  her  with  treasures,  but  our  God,  to  Him  we  may  entrust  all  our  treasures 
for  this  world  and  the  next,  and  fail  any  one  who  puts  confidence  in  Him  He  never  will. 
After  the  last  jasper  column  has  fallen  and  the  last  temple  on  earth  has  gone  into  ruins  and 
the  world  itself  has  suffered  demolition,  the  Lord  will  keep  for  us  our  best  treasures. 

But,  notice  what  killed  Ephesus,  and  what  has  killed  most  of  the  cities  that  lie  buried 
in  the  cemetery  of  nations.  Luxury  !  The  costly  baths,  which  had  been  the  means  of 
health  to  tlie  city,  became  its  ruin.     Instead  of  the  cold  baths  that  had  been  the  invigoration 


368  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

of  the  people,  the  hot  baths,  which  are  only  intended  for  the  infirm  or  the  invalid, 
were  snbstituted.  In  these  hot  baths  many  la\-  most  of  the  time.  Anthors  wrote  books 
while  m  these  baths.  Business  was  neglected  and  a  hot  bath  taken  four  or  five  times  a  day. 
When  the  keeper  of  the  baths  was  reprimanded  for  not  having  them  warm  enough,  one  of 
the  rulers  said  :  "  You  blame  him  for  not  making  the  bath  warm  enough ;  I  blame  \ou 
because  you  have  it  warm  at  all."  But  that  warm  bath,  which  enervated  Ephesus  and 
which  is  always  enervating  except  when  followed  by  cold  baths  (no  reference,  of  course,  to 
delicate  constitutions),  was  only  a  type  of  what  went  on  in  all  departments  of  Ephesian 
life,  and  in  luxurious  indulgence  Ephesus  fell,  and  the  last  triangle  of  music  was  tinkled  in 
Diana's  Temple,  and  the  last  wrestler  disappeared  from  her  gymnasiums,  and  the  last  racer 
took  his  garland  in  the  Stadium,  and  the  last  plea  was  heard  in  her  Forum,  and,  even  the 
sea,  as  if  to  withdraw  the  last  commercial  opportunity  from  that  metropolis,  retreated  down 
the  beach,  leaving  her  without  the  harbor  in  which  had  floated  a  thousand  ships.  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  London  and  all  modern  cities,  cis-Atlantic  and  trans-Atlantic  !  take  warning. 
What  luxury  unguarded  did  for  Ephesus  luxury  unguarded  may  do  for  all.  Opulence  and 
splendor  God  grant  to  all  the  people,  to  all  the  cities,  to  all  the  lands,  but  at  the  same  time, 
may  He  grant  the  righteous  use  of  them. 

Gvmnasiums  ?  Y^es,  but  see  that  the  vioor  gained  in  them  be  consecrated  to  God. 
Magnificent  temples  of  worship  ?  Y'es,  but  see  that  in  them  instead  of  conventionalities 
and  cold  pomp  of  service,  there  be  warmth  of  devotion  and  the  pure  Gospel  preached.  Im- 
posing court  houses  ?  Yes,  but  in  them  let  justice  and  mercy  rule.  Palaces  of  journalism  ? 
Y'es,  but  let  all  of  the  printing  presses  be  marshaled  for  happiness  and  truth.  Great  post- 
office  buildings?  Y'es,  but  through  them  day  by  day,  ma}'  correspondence  helpful,  elevating 
and  moral  pass.  Ornate  dwelling-houses  ?  Y^es,  but  in  them  let  there  be  altars  of  devotion, 
and  conjugal,  filial,  paternal  and  Christian  fidelity  rule.  London  for  magnitude,  Berlin  tor 
universities,  Paris  for  fashions,  Rome  for  cathedrals,  Athens  for  classics,  Thebes  for  hiero- 
glyjihics,  Memphis  for  tombs,  Babylon  for  gardens,  Ephesus  for  idolatry,  but  what  shall  be 
the  characteristics  of  our  American  cities  when  they  shall  have  attained  their  full  stature  ? 
Would  that  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord  "  might  be  inscribed  upon  all  our  municipalities.  One 
thing  is  certain,  and  that  is,  that  all  idolatry  must  come  down.  When  the  greatest  goddess 
of  the  earth,  Diana,  enshrined  in  the  greatest  temple  that  ever  stood,  was  prostrated  at 
Ephesus,  it  was  a  prophecy  of  the  overthrow  of  all  the  idolatries  that  have  cursed  the  earth, 
and  anything  we  love  more  than  God  is  an  idol,  and  there  is  as  much  idolatry  in  the  nine- 
teenth centurv  as  in  the  first,  and  in  America  as  in  Asia. 

As  our  train  pulled  out  from  the  station  at  Ephesus,  the  cars  surrounded  by  the  worst 
looking  group  of  villains  I  ever  gazed  on,  all  of  them  seeming  in  a  wrangle  with  each  other 
and  trying  to  get  into  a  wrangle  with  us,  and  we  moved  along  the  columns  of  ancient 
aqueducts,  each  column  crowned  with  storks,  having  built  their  nests  there,  and  we  rolled  on 
down  toward  Smyrna,  and  that  night  in  a  sailors'  Bethel,  we  spoke  of  the  Christ  whom  the 
world  must  know  or  perish,  we  felt  that  between  cradle  and  grave  there  could  not  be  any- 
thing much  more  enthralling  for  body,  mind  and  soul,  than  our  visit  to  Ephesus. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

THE  CROWN  OF  GREECE. 

IT  seemed  as  if  morning  would  never  come.  We  had  arrived  after  dark  in  Athens, 
Greece,  and  the  night  was  sleepless  with  expectation,  and  my  watch  slowly 
announced  to  me  one  and  two  and  three  and  four  o'clock  ;  and  at  the  first  ray 
of  dawn,  I  called  our  party  to  look  out  of  the  window  upon  that  city  to  which 
Paul  said  he  was  a  debtor,  and  to  which  the  whole  earth  is  debtor  for  Greek  architecture, 
Greek  sculpture,  Greek  poetry,  Greek  eloquence,  Greek  prowess  and  Greek  history.  That 
morning  in  Athens  we  sauntered  forth  armed  with  most  generous  and  lovely  letters  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  during  all  our  stay  in  that 
city  those  letters  caused  every  door  and  every  gate  and  every  temple  and  everv  palace  to  swing 
open  before  us.  The  mightiest  geographical  name  on  earth  to-day  is  America.  The  signa- 
ture of  an  American  President  and  Secretary  of  State  will  take  a  man  where  an  army  could 
not.  Those  names  brought  us  into  the  presence  of  a  most  gracious  and  beautiful  sovereign, 
the  Queen  of  Greece,  and  her  cordiality  was  more  like  that  of  a  sister  than  the  occupant  of 
a  throne-room.  No  formal  bow  as  when  monarchs  are  approached,  but  a  cordial  shake  of 
the  hand,  and  earnest  questions  about  our  personal  welfare  and  our  beloved  country  far 
away.  But  this  morning  we  pass  through  where  stood  the  Agora,  the  ancient  market-place, 
the  locality  where  philosophers  used  to  meet  their  disciples,  walking  while  the}'  talked,  and 
where  Paul  the  Christian  logician  flung  many  a  proud  Stoic,  and  got  the  laugh  on  many  an 
impertinent  Epicurean.  The  market-place  was  the  centre  of  social  and  political  life,  and  it 
was  the  place  where  people  went  to  tell  and  hear  the  news.  Booths  and  bazaars  were  set  up 
for  merchandise  of  all  kinds,  except  meat,  but  ever\thing  must  be  sold  for  cash,  and  there 
must  be  no  lying  about  the  value  of  commodities,  and  the  Agoranomi  who  ruled  the  place 
could  inflict  severe  punishment  upon  oflTenders.  The  different  schools  of  thinkers  had 
distinct  places  set  apart  for  convocation.  The  Plataeans  must  meet  at  the  cheese  market,  the 
Decelians  at  the  barber  shop,  the  sellers  of  perfumes  at  the  frankincense  headquarters.  The 
market-  place  was  a  space  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
wide,  and  it  was  given  up  to  gossip  and  merchandise,  and  lounging,  and  philosophizing. 
All  this  \-ou  need  to  know  in  order  to  understand  the  Bible  when  it  says  of  Paul,  "  There- 
fore disputed  he  in  the  market  daily  with  them  that  met  him."  Yon  see  it  was  the  best 
place  to  get  an  audience,  and  if  a  man  feels  himself  called  to  preach  he  wants  people  to 
preach  to.  But  before  we  make  our  chief  visits  we  must  take  a  turn  at  the  Stadium.  It 
is  a  little  way  out,  but  go  we  must.  The  Stadium  was  the  place  where  the  foot-races 
occurred. 

Panl  had  been  out  there,  no  doubt,  for  he  frequently  uses  the  scenes  of  that  place  as 

figures,  when  he  tells  ns,  "  Let  us  run  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,"  and  again,  "They  do 

it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  garland,  but  we  an  incorrmt'ble."      The  marble  and  the  gilding 

have  been    removed,  but  the  high   mounds  against   which   the  seats  were  piled    are  still 

24  (369) 


370 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


there.  The  Stadium  is  six  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  wide, 
and  held  forty  thousand  spectators.  There  is  to-day  the  very  tunnel  through  which  the 
defeated  racer  departed  from  the  Stadium  and  from  the  hisses  of  the  people,  and  there  are  the 
stairs  up  which  the  victor  went  to  the  top  of  the  hill  to  be  crowned  with  the  laurel.  In 
this  place  contests  with  wild  beasts  sometimes  took  place,  and  while  Hadrian,  the 
emperor,  sat  on  yonder  height,  one  thousand  beasts  were  slain  in  one  celebration.  But 
it  was  chiefly  for  foot-racing,  and  so  I  proposed  to  ni)-  friend  that  day  while  we  were  in 
the  Stadium  that  we  try  which  of  us  could  run  the  sooner  from  end  to  end  of  this  his- 
torical ground,  and  so  at  the  word  given  b)-  the  lookers-on  we  started  side  by  side,  but 
before  I  got  through  I  found  out  what   Paul  meant  when  he  compares  the  spiritual   race 


PAUL    EXHORTING    l-'HLIX. 


with  the  race  in  this  very  Stadium,  as  he  says,  "  Lay  aside  every  weight."  My  heavy  over- 
coat and  my  friend's  freedom  from  such  encumbrance  showed  the  advantage  in  any  kind 
of  a  race  of  laying  aside  "  every  weight." 

We  come  now  to  the  Acropolis.  It  is  a  rock  about  two  miles  in  circumference  at  the 
base  and  a  thousand  feet  in  circumference  at  the  top,  and  three  hundred  feet  high.  On  it 
has  been  crowded  more  elaborate  architecture  and  sculpture  than  in  any  other  place  under 
the  whole  heavens.  Originally  a  fortress,  afterward  a  congregation  of  temples  and  statues 
and  pillars,  their  ruins  an  enchantment  from  which  no  observer  ever  breaks  away.  No 
wonder  that  Aristides  thought  it  the  centre  of  all  things — Greece,  the  centre  of  the  world  ; 


(371) 


372 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


Attica,  the  centre  of  Greece  ;  Athens,  the  centre  of  Attica,  and  the  Acropolis,  the  centre  of 
Athens.  Earthquakes  have  shaken  it ;  Verres  phnidered  it.  Lord  Elgin,  the  English 
ambassador  at  Constantinople,  got  permission  of  the  Snltan  to  remove  from  the  Acropolis 
fallen  pieces  of  the  building,  but  he  took  from  the  building  to  England  the  finest  statues, 
removing  them  at  an  expense  of  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars.  A  storm  overthrew 
many  of  the  statues  of  the  Acropolis.  Morosini,  the  general,  attempted  to  remove  from  a 
pediment  the  sculptured  car  and  horses  of  Victory,  but  the  clumsy  machinery-  dropped  it, 
and  all  was  lost.  The  Turks  turned  the  building  into  a  powder  magazine,  where  the 
Venetian  guns  dropped  a  fire  that  by  explosion  sent  the  columns  flying  in  the  air  and 
falling  cracked  and  splintered.  But  after  all  that  time  and  storm  and  war  and  icono- 
clasm    have  effected,  the  Acropolis  is  the  monarch  of   all  ruins,   and    before    it  bow  the 

learning,    the  geni- 


mfW&sifia^'Ssf  y  V  ». 


us,  the  poetry,  the 
art,  the  historx-  of 
the  ages.  I  saw  it 
as  it  was  thousands 
of  years  ago.  I  had 
read  so  much  about 
it  and  dreamed  so 
much  about  it,  that 
I  needed  no  magi- 
cian's wand  to  re- 
store it.  At  one 
wave  of  my  hand 
on  that  clear,  bright 
morning  it  rose  be- 
fore me  in  the  glory 
it  had  when  Peri- 
cles ordered  it,  and 
W^'^  Ictinus  planned  it, 
,^V'?^  and  I'hidias  chis- 
■  ■  "'-  eled  it,  and  Proto- 
genes  painted  it, 
and  Pausanias  des- 
cribed it.    Its  gates, 

which  were  carefully  guarded  by  the  ancients,  open  to  let  you  in,  and  you  ascend  by  sixty 
marble  steps  to  the  Propylsea,  which  Epaminondas  wanted  to  transfer  to  Thebes,  but 
permission,  I  am  glad  to  say,  could  not  be  granted  for  the  removal  of  this  architectural 
miracle.  In  the  days  when  ten  cents  would  do  more  than  a  dollar  now,  the  building 
cost  two  million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  See  its  five  ornamented  gates,  the 
keys  entrusted  to  an  officer  for  only  one  day  lest  the  temptation  to  go  in  and  mis- 
appropriate the  treasures  be  too  great  for  him  ;  its  ceiling  a  mingling  of  blue  and  scarlet 
and  green,  and  the  walls  abloom  with  pictures  utmost  in  thought  and  coloring.  Yonder 
is  a  a  temple  to  a  goddess  called  "Victory  Without  Wings."  So  many  of  the  triumphs 
of  the  world  had  been  followed  by  defeat  that  the  Greeks  wi-shed  in  marble  to  indicate 
that  victory  for  Athens  had  come  never  again  to  fly  away,  and  hence  this  temple  to 
"  Victory  Without  Wings," — a  temple  of  marble,  snow-white  and  glittering.    Yonder  behold 


VIEW   OF  THE   ACROPOLIS,    ATHENS. 


THE   WORLD   AS   vSEEN   TO-DAY. 


373 


the  pedestal  of  Agrippa,  twenty-seven  feet  high  and  t\vel\-e  feet  sqnare.  But  the  over- 
shadowing wonder  of  all  the  hill  is  the  Parthenon.  In  days  when  money  was  ten  times 
more  valuable  than  now,  it  cost  four  million  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  is  a 
Doric  grandeur,  having  forty-six  columns,  eacl:  column  thirty-four  feet  high  and  six  feet 
two  inches  in  diameter.  Wondrous  intercolumniations  !  Painted  porticoes,  architraves 
tinged  with  ochre,  shields  of  gold  hung  up,  lines  of  most  delicate  curve,  figures  of  horses 
and  men  and  women  and  gods,  oxen  on  the  way  to  sacrifice,  statues  of  the  deities ; 
Dionysius,  Prometheus,  Hermes,  Demeter,  Zeus,  Hera,  Poseidon ;  in  one  frieze  twelve 
divinities  ;  centaurs  in  battle  ;  weaponry  from  Marathon  ;  chariot  of  night ;  chariot  of 
the  morning  ;  horses  of  the  sun,  the  fates,  the  furies  ;  statue  of  Jupiter  holding  in  his 
right  hand  the  thunderbolt  ;  .silver-footed  chair  in  which  Xerxes  watched  the  battle 
of  Salamis,  only  a  few  miles  away. 
Here  is  the  colossal  statue  of  Min- 
erva in  full  armor,  eyes  of  gray- 
colored  stoue  ;  figure  of  a  Sphinx 
on  her  head,  griffins  by  her  side 
(which  are  lions  with  eagle's  beak), 
spear  in  one  hand,  statue  of  Liberty 
in  the  other,  a  shield  carved  with 
battle  scenes,  and  even  the  slippers 
sculptured  and  tied  on  with  thongs 
of  gold.  Far  out  at  sea  the  sailors 
saw  this  statue  of  Minerva  rising 
high  above  all  the  temples,  glitter- 
ing in  the  sun.  Here  are  statues  of 
equestrians,  statue  of  a  lioness,  and 
there  are  the  Graces,  and  yonder  a 
horse  in  bronze.  There  is  a  statue 
said  in  the  time  of  Augustus  to 
have  of  its  own  accord  turned 
around  from  east  to  west  and  spit 
blood  ;  statues  made  out  of  shields 
conquered  in  battle ;  statue  of 
Apollo,  the  expeller  of  locusts  ;  statue  of  Anacreon,  drunk  and  singing ;  statue  of  Olympio- 
dorus,  a  Greek,  memorable  for  the  fact  that  he  was  cheerful  when  others  were  cast  down, 
a  trait  worthy  of  sculpture.  But,  walk  on  and  around  the  Acropolis,  and  yonder  you  see 
a  statue  of  Hygiea,  and  the  statue  of  Theseus  fighting  the  Minotaur  and  the  statue  of 
Hercules  slaying  serpents.  No  wonder  that  Petronius  said  it  was  easier  to  find  a  god  than 
a  man  in  Athens.  Oh,  the  Acropolis  !  The  most  of  its  temples  and  statues  made  from  the 
marble  quarries  of  Mount  Pentelicum  a  little  wa\'  from  the  city.  I  have  here  on  ni}-  table 
a  block  of  the  Parthenon  made  out  of  this  marble,  and  on  it  is  the  sculpture  of  Phidias.  I 
brought  it  from  the  Acropolis.  This  specimen  has  on  it  the  dust  of  ages,  and  the  marks  of 
explosion  and  battle,  but  you  can  get  from  it  some  idea  of  the  delicate  lustre  of  the 
Acropolis  when  it  was  covered  with  a  mountain  of  this  marble  cut  into  all  the 
exquisite  shapes  that  genius  could  contrive,  and  striped  with  silver  and  aflame  with 
gold.  The  Acropolis  in  the  morning  light  of  those  ancients  must  have  shone  as 
though    it    were    an  aerolite    cast  off    from    the    noonday  sun.     The  temples    must    have 


Mil  II  \    AND    PRISLIIL'V 


374  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

looked   like   petrified    foam.       The    whole    Acropolis  must   have    seemed    like   the   white 
breakers  of  the  great  ocean  of  time. 

But  we  cannot  stop  longer  here,  for  there  is  a  hill  near-b>-  of  more  interest,  though  it 
has  not  one  chip  of  marble  to  suggest  a  statue  or  a  temple.  We  hasten  down  the  Acropolis 
to  ascend  the  Areopagus,  or  Mars  Hill,  as  it  is  called.  It  took  only  about  three  minutes  to 
walk  the  distance,  and  the  two  hill-tops  are  so  near  that  what  I  said  in  religious  discourse 
on  Mars  Hill  was  heard  distinctl\"  by  some  English  gentlemen  on  the  Acropolis.  This 
Mars  Hill  is  a  rough  pile  of  rock  fifty  feet  high.  It  was  famous  long  before  New  Testa- 
ment times.  The  Persians  easily  and  terribly  assaulted  the  Acropolis  from  this  hill  top. 
Here  assembled  the  court  to  try  criminals.  It  was  held  in  the  night  time,  so  that  the  faces 
of  the  judges  could  not  be  seen,  nor  the  faces  of  the  lawyers  who  made  the  plea,  and  so, 
instead  of  a  trial  being  one  of  emotion,  it  must  have  been  one  of  cool  justice.  But  there 
was  one  occasion  on  this  hill  memorable  above  all  others.  A  little  man,  physically  weak, 
and  his  rhetoric,  described  by  himself  as  contemptible,  had  by  his  sennons  rocked  Athens 
with  commotion,  and  he  was  summoned  either  by  writ  of  law  or  hearty  invitation  to  come 
upon  that  pulpit  of  rock  and  give  a  specimen  of  his  theology.  All  the  wiseacres  of  Athens 
turned  out  and  turned  up  to  hear  him.  The  more  venerable  of  them  sat  in  an  amphi- 
theatre, the  granite  seats  of  which  are  still  visible,  but  the  other  people  swarmed  on  all 
sides  of  the  hill  and  at  the  base  of  it  to  hear  this  man,  whom  some  called  a  fanatic,  and 
others  called  a  madcap,  and  others  a  blasphemer,  and  others  styled  contemptuously  "  this 
fellow."  In  that  audience  were  the  first  orators  of  the  world,  and  they  had  voices  like 
flutes  when  they  were  passive  and  like  trumpets  when  they  were  aroused,  and  I  think  they 
laughed  in  the  slee\'es  of  their  gowns  as  this  insignificant-looking  man  rose  to  sjDeak.  In 
that  audience  were  Scholiasts,  who  knew  everything,  or  thought  they  did,  and  from  the  end 
of  the  longest  hair  on  the  top  of  their  craniums  to  the  end  of  the  nail  on  the  longest  toe, 
they  were  stuffed  with  hypercriticism,  and  they  leaned  back  with  a  supercilious  look  to 
listen.  As  that  day  I  stood  on  that  rock  where  Paul  stood,  and  a  slab  of  which  I  brought 
from  x\thens  by  consent  of  the  Queen,  through  Mr.  Tricoupis,  the  prime  minister,  and  had 
placed  in  the  memorial  wall  of  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle,  I  read  the  whole  story,  Bible  in  hand. 

What  I  have  so  far  said,  was  necessary  in  order  that  you  may  understand  the  boldness, 
the  defiance,  the  holy  recklessness,  the  magnificence  of  Paul's  speech.  The  first  thunder- 
bolt he  launched  at  the  opposite  hill — the  Acropolis — that  moment  all  aglitter  with  idols  and 
temples.  He  cries  out,  "God  who  made  the  world."  Why,  they  thought  that  Prometheus 
made  it,  that  Mercury  made  it,  that  Apollo  made  it,  that  Poseidon  made  it,  that  Eros  made  it, 
that  Pandrocus  made  it,  that  Boreas  made  it,  that  it  took  all  the  gods  of  the  Parthenon,  yea, 
all  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  Acropolis  to  make  it,  and  here  stands  a  man  without  any 
ecclesiastical  title,  neither  a  D.  D.,  nor  even  a  reverend,  declaring  that  the  world  was  made 
by  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  hence  the  inference  that  all  the  splendid  covering  of 
the  Acropolis,  so  near  that  the  people  standing  on  the  .steps  of  the  Parthenon  could  hear  it, 
was  a  deceit,  a  falsehood,  a  sham,  a  blasphemy.  Oli,  Paul,  stop  for  a  moment  and  give 
these  startled  and  overwhelmed  auditors  time  to  catch  their  breath  !  l\Iake  a  rhetorical 
pause  !  Take  a  look  around  you  at  the  interesting  landscape,  and  give  your  hearers  time 
to  recover !  No,  he  does  not  make  e\-en  a  period,  or  .so  much  as  a  colon  or  semi-colon,  but 
launches  the  second  thunderbolt  right  after  the  first,  and  in  the  same  breath  goes  on  to  say, 
"God  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands."  Oh,  Paul!  is  not  deity  more  in  the 
Parthenon,  or  more  in  the  Theseum,  or  more  in  the  Erechtheum,  or  more  in  the  Temple 
of  Zeus  Olympius  than  in  the  open  air,  more  than  on    the  hill   where  we  are  sitting,  more 


a 

at 

O 
H 
-n 


o75  i 


376 


THE    EARTH   GIRDLED. 


than  on  Mount  Hvmettus  out  yonder,  from  which  the  bees  get  their  honey.     "  No  more  ! " 
responds  Paul  ;   "  He  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands." 

But  surely  the  preacher  on  the  pulpit  of  rock  on  Mars  Hill  will  stop  now.  His  audi- 
ence can  endure  no  more.  Two  thunderbolts  are  enough.  No,  in  the  same  breath  he 
launches  the  third  thunderbolt,  which,  to  them,  is  more  fiery,  more  terrible,  more  demol- 
ishing than  the  others,  as  he  cries  out,  "  Hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations."  Oh,  Paul ! 
von  forget  you  are  speaking  to  the  proudest  and  most  exclusive  audience  in  the  world.  Do 
not  say  "  of  one  blood."  You  cannot  mean  that.  Had  Socrates,  and  Plato,  and  Demos- 
thenes, and  Solon,  and  Lycurgus,  and  Draco,  and  Sophocles,  and  Euripides,  and  .^schylus, 
and  Pericles,  and  Phidias,  and  Miltiades,  blood  just  like   the   Persians,  like  the  Turks,  like 


FACADE  OF  THE  PARTHENON,    GREECE. 

The  Parthenon  was  a  marble  temple  in  Athens,  dedicated  to  Minen-a,  Goddess  of  Wisdom,  erected  about  450  B.  C,  and  is 
believed  to  have  surpassed  all  other  edifices  ever  erected  by  the  hand  of  man.  ITpou  the  frieze  was  a  sculptured  representation  of  the 
sacred  procession  which  took  place  every  fifth  j-ear  in  Athens  in  honor  of  Minerva,  which  was  so  splendidly  executed  as  to  constitute 
the  building's  chief  glory. 

the  Egyptians,  like  the  common  herd  of  humanity  ?     "  Yes,"  says  Paul,  "  of  one  blood,  all 
nations." 

Surely  that  must  be  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  sermon.  His  auditors  must  be  let 
up  from  the  nervous  strain.  Paul  has  smashed  the  Acropolis  and  smashed  the  national 
pride  of  the  Greeks,  and  what  more  can  he  say  ?  Those  Grecian  orators,  standing  on  that 
jjlace,  always  closed  their  addresses  with  something  sublime  and  climacteric,  a  peroration, 
and  Paul  is  going  to  give  them  a  peroration  which  will  eclipse  in  power  and  majesty  all 
that  he  has  yet  said.  Heretofore  he  has  hurled  one  thunderbolt  at  a  time ;  now,  he  will 
close  by  hurling  two  at  once — the  two  thunderbolts  of  Resurrection  and  Last  Judgment. 
His  closing  words  were :  "  Because  He  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  He  will  judge 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN    TO-DAY. 


377 


■^ 


the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  He  hath  ordained  ;  whereof  He  hath  given 
assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead."  Remember  those 
thoughts  were  to  them  novel  and  provocative  :  that  Christ,  the  despised  Nazarene,  would 
come  to  be  their  judge,  and  they  should  have  to  get  up  out  of  their  cemeteries  to  stand 
before  Him  and  take  their  eternal  doom.  flightiest  burst  of  elocutionary  power  ever 
heard.  At  those  two  thoughts  of  Resurrection  and  Judgment,  the  audience  sprang  to  their 
feet.  Some  moved  they  adjourn  to  some  other  day  to  hear  more  on  the  same  theme,  but 
others  would  have  torn  the  sacred  orator  to  pieces.  The  record  says,  "some  mocked."  I 
suppose  it  means  that  they  mimicked  the  solemnity  of  his  voice,  that  the\-  took  off  his 
impassioned  gesticulation,  and  they  cried  out:  "Jew!  Jew!  Where  did  }-ou  study  rhetoric? 
You  ought  to  hear  our  orators  speak  !  You  had  better  go  back  to  your  business  of  tent- 
making.  Our  Lycurgus  knew  more  in  a  minute  than  you  will  know  in  a  month.  Sa\', 
where  did  you  get 
that  crooked  back 
and  those  weak  eyes 
from  ?  Ha  !  Ha  ! 
You  try  to  teach  us 
Grecians!  What  non- 
sense you  talk  about 
when  you  speak  of 
Resurrection  a  n  d 
Judgment.  Now, 
little  old  man,  dim'  • 
down  the  side  d! 
Mars  Hill  and  gel 
out  of  sight  as  soon 
as  possible."  "  Some 
mocked."  But  that 
scene  adjourned  to 
the  day  of  which  the 
sacred  orator  had 
spoken — the  day  of 
Resurrection  and 
Judgment. 

As   in    Athens, 
that    evening    w  e 

climbed  down  the  pile  of  slipper}'  rocks,  where  all  this  had  occurred,  on  our  way  back  to 
our  hotel,  I  stood  half  way  between  the  Acropolis  and  Mars  Hill  in  the  gathering 
shadows  of  eventide,  I  seemed  to  hear  those  two  hills  in  sublime  and  awful  converse.  "I 
am  chiefly  of  the  past,"  said  the  Acropolis.  "  I  am  chiefly  of  the  future,"  replied 
Mars  Hill.  The  Acropolis  said  :  "  My  orators  are  dead.  My  law-givers  are  dead.  I\Iy 
poets  are  dead.  My  architects  are  dead.  My  sculptors  are  dead.  I  am  a  monument 
of  the  dead  past.  I  shall  never  again  hear  a  song  sung.  I  shall  never  again  see  a 
column  lifted.  I  shall  never  again  behold  a  goddess  crowned."  Mars  Hill  responded  :  "  I, 
too,  have  had  a  history.  I  had  on  my  heights  warriors  who  will  never  again  mrsheathe  the 
sword,  and  judges  who  will  never  again  utter  a  doom,  and  orators  who  will  never  again 
make  a  plea.      But  my  influence  is  to  be   more   in   the   future   than   it   ever  was  in  the  past. 


I'RISON    OF   SOCt 


ilI£EN"S. 


378 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


Oh,  Acropolis !  I  have  stood  here  long  enough  to  witness  that  your  gods  are  no  gods  at  all. 
Your  Boreas  could  not  control  the  winds.  Your  Nej^tune  could  not  manage  the  sea.  Your 
Apollo  never  evoked  a  musical  note.  Your  goddess  Ceres  never  grew  a  harvest.  Your 
goddess  of  wisdom,  Minerva,  never  knew  the  Greek  alphabet.  Your  Jupiter  could  not 
handle  the  lightnings.  But  the  God  whom  I  proclaimed  on  the  day  when  Paul  preached 
before  the  astounded  assemblage  on  my  rough  heights,  is  the  God  of  music,  the  God  of 
wisdom,  the  God  of  power,  the  God  of  mercy,  the  God  of  love,  the  God  of  storms,  the  God 
of  sunshine,  the  God  of  the  land  and  the  God  of  the  sea,  the  God  over  all,  blessed  forever." 
Then,  the  Acropolis  spake  and  said,  as  though  in  self-defence :  "  My  Plato  argued  for  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  and  my  Socrates  praised  virtue,  and  my  Miltiades  at  Marathon 
drove  back  the  Persian  oppressors."  "  Yes,"  said  Mars  Hill,  "  your  Plato  laboriously 
guessed  at  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  my  Paul,  divinely  inspired,  declared  it  as  a  fact 
straight  from  God.     Your  Socrates  praised  virtue,  but  expired  as  a  suicide.     Your  Miltiades 

was  brave  against  earthly 
foes,  3-et  died  from  a  wound 
ignominiously  gotten  in 
after-defeat.  But  my  Paul 
challenged  all  earth  and  all 
hell  with  this  battle-shout, 
'  We  wrestle  not  against 
flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
principalities,  against 
powers,  against  the  rulers  of 
the  darkness  of  this  world, 
against  spiritual  wickedness 
in  high  places,'  and  then, 
on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June, 
in  the  year  66,  on  the  road 
to  Ostia,  after  the  sword 
of  the  headsman  had  given 
one  keen  stroke,  took  the 
crown  of  martyrdom." 
After  a  moment's  silence 
by  both  hills,  the  Acropolis  moaned  out  in  the  darkness,  "  Alas  !  Alas  !  "  and  Mars  Hill 
responded,  "  Hosannah  !  Hosannah  !  "  Then  th.e  voices  of  both  hills  became  indistinct, 
and  as  I  passed  on  and  away  in  the  twilight,  I  seemed  to  hear  onh-  two  sounds — a  fragment 
of  Pentelicon  marble  from  the  architrave  of  the  Acropolis  dropping  down  on  the  ruins  of  a 
shattered  idol,  and  the  other  sound  seemed  to  come  from  the  rock  on  Mars  Hill,  from  which 
we  had  just  descended.  But  we  were  by  this  time  so  far  off"  that  the  fragments  of  sentences 
were  smaller  when  dropping  from  Mars  Hill  than  were  the  fragments  of  fallen  marble  on 
the  Acropolis,  and  I  could  onlyhear  parts  of  disconnected  sentences  wafted  on  the  night  air 
— "  God  who  made  the  world  " — •"  of  one  blood  all  nations  " — "  appointed  a  day  in  which 
He  will  judge  the  world  " — "  raised  Him  from  the  dead." 

As  that  night  in  Athens  I  put  my  tired  head  on  my  pillow,  and  the  exciting  scenes 
of  the  day  passed  through  my  mind,  I  thought  on  the  same  subject  on  which  as 
a  boy  I  made  my  commencement  speech  in  Niblo's  Theatre  on  graduation  day  from 
the  New  York  University,  viz  :   "  The  moral   effects  of  sculpture  and  architecture,"  but 


TllI.ATKl.   Ml'    1;a;^l1U 


.-.i.ATS   UI-    THI-.   jriir.l.^,     ATHICNS. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


379 


further  than  I  could  have  tliouglit  in  boyhood,  I  thonglit  in  Athens  that  night  that  the 
moral  effects  of  architecture  and  sculpture  depend  on  what  }0u  do  in  great  buildings  after 
they  are  put  up,  and  upon  the  character  of  the  men  whose  forms  you  cut  in  the  marble. 
Vea,  I  thought  that  night  what  struggles  the  martyrs  went  through  in  order  that  in  our 
time  the  Gospel  might  have  full  swing ;  and  I  thought  that  night  what  a  brainy  religion  it 
must  be  that  could  absorb  a  hero  like  him  whom  we  have  considered  to-day,  a  man  the 
superior  of  the  whole  human  race,  the  infidels  but  pigmies  or  homunculi  compared  with 
him  ;  and  I  thought  what  a  rapturous  consideration  it  is  that  through  the  same  grace  that 
saved  Paul,  we  shall  confront  this  great  apostle,  and  shall  have  the  opportunity,  amid  the 
familiarities  of  the  skies,  of  asking  him  what  was  the  greatest  occasion  of  all  his  life.  He 
may  say,  "  The  shipwreck  of  Rlelita."  He  may  say,  "  The  riot  at  Ephesus."  He  may  say, 
"  ]\Iy  last  walk  out  on  the  road  to  Ostia."  But  I  think  he  will  sa>-,  "  The  day  I  stood  on 
Mars  Hill  addressing  the  indignant  Areopagites,  and  looking  off  upon  the  towering  form  of 
the  goddess  IMinerva,  and  the  majesty  of  the  Parthenon,  and  all  the  brilliant  divinities  of 
tlie  Acropolis.  That  account  in  the  Bible  was  true.  My  spirit  was  stirred  within  me  when 
I  saw  the  city  wholly  given  tip  to  idolatr)." 


£:_:Ji>' 


a 


CHAPTER   XIJ. 

POMPEII. 

FLASH  on  the  night  sky  greeted  us  as  we  stepped  out  of  the  rail  train  at 
Naples,  Italy.  What  was  the  strange  illumination?  It  was  that  wrath  of 
man)-  centuries — Vesuvius.  Giant  son  of  an  earthquake.  Intoxicated  moun- 
tain of  Italy.  Father  of  many  consternations.  A  volcano,  burning  so  long, 
and  yet  to  keep  on  burning  until,  perhaps,  it  may  be  the  very  torch  that  will  kindle  the  last 
conflagration  and  set  all  the  world  on  fire.  It  eclipses  in  violence  of  behavior  Cotopaxi  and 
j55tna  and  Stromboli  and  Krakatoa.  Awful  mystery.  Funeral  pyre  of  dead  cities.  Ever- 
lasting paroxysm  of  mountains.  It  seems  like  a  chimney  of  hell.  It  roars  with  fierv 
reminiscence  of  what  it  has  done,  and  with  threats  of  worse  things  that  it  may  yet  do.  I 
v/ould  not  live  in  one  of  the  villages  at  its  base  for  a  present  of  all  Italy.  On  a  day  in 
December,  1631,  it  threw  up  ashes  that  floated  away  hinidreds  and  hundreds  of  miles,  and 
dropped  in  Constantinople  and  in  the  Adriatic  Sea  and  on  the  Apennines,  as  well  as  tramp- 
ling out  at  its  own  foot  the  lives  of  eighteen  thousand  people.  Geologists  have  tried  to 
fathom  its  mysteries,  but  the  heat  consumed  the  iron  instruments  and  drove  back  the 
scorched  and  blistered  explorers  from  the  cindery  and  crumbling  brink.  It  seems  like  tlie 
asylum  of  maniac  elements.  At  one  time  far  back  its  top  had  been  a  fortress,  where  Spar- 
tacus  fought  and  was  surrounded,  and  would  have  been  destroyed  had  it  not  been  for  the 
grape  vines  which  clothed  the  mountain  side  from  top  to  base,  and  laying  hold  of  them  he 
climbed  hand  under  hand  to  safety  in  the  valley.  But  for  centuries  it  has  kept  its  furnace 
burning  as  we  saw  it  that  night  on  our  arrival. 

Of  course  the  next  day  we  started  to  see  some  of  the  work  wrought  by  that  frenzied 
mountain.  "All  out  for  Pompeii!"  was  the  cry  of  the  conductor.  And  now  we  stand  by 
the  corpse  of  that  dead  city.  As  we  entered  the  gate  and  pa.ssed  between  the  walls,  I  took 
off  my  hat,  as  one  naturally  does  in  the  presence  of  some  imposing  obsequies.  That  city 
had  been  at  one  time  a  capital  of  beauty  and  pomp,  the  home  of  grand  architecture,  exqui- 
site painting,  enchanting  sculpture,  unrestrained  carousal,  and  rapt  assemblage.  A  high 
wall,  twenty  feet  thick,  three-fourths  of  it  still  \-isil)le,  encircled  the  city.  On  those  walls  at 
a  distance  of  only  one  hundred  \ards  from  each  other,  towers  rose  for  armed  men  who 
watched  the  cit}'.  The  streets  ran  at  right  angles  and  from  wall  to  wall,  only  one  street 
excepted.  In  the  days  of  the  city's  prosperity,  its  towers  glittered  in  the  sun  ;  eight  strong 
gates  for  ingress  and  egress  ;  Gate  of  the  Sea  Shore,  Gate  of  Herculaneum,  Gate  of  Vesu- 
viiis  being  j^erhaps  the  most  important.  Yonder  was  the  Temple  of  Jxipiter,  hoisted  at  an 
imposing  elevation,  and  with  its  six  Corinthian  columns  of  immense  girth,  which  stood  like 
carved  icebergs,  shimmering  in  the  light.  There  stands  the  Temple  of  the  Twelve  Gods. 
Yonder  see  the  Temple  of  Hercules,  and  the  Temple  of  Mercury,  with  altars  of  marble  and 
bas-relief,  wonderful  enough  to  astound  all  succeeding  ages  of  art,  and  the  Temple  of 
^5isculapius,  brilliant  with  sculpture  and  gorgeous  with  painting.  Yonder  are  the  theatres, 
partly  cut  into  surrounding  hills  and  glorified  with  pictured  walls  and  entered  under  arches 
of  imposing  masonry,  and  with  rooms  for  captivated  and  applaudatory  audiences,  seated  or 

(3S0) 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


381 


standing,  in  vast  semi-circle.  Yonder  are  the  costly  and  immense  public  baths  of  the  city, 
with  more  than  the  modern  ingenuities  of  Carlsbad.  Notice  the  warmth  of  those  ancient 
tepidarinms  with  hovering  radiance  of  roof,  and  the  vapor  of  those  caldariinns  with 
decorated  alcoves  and  the  cold  dash  of  their  frigidarinms,  with  floors  of  mosaic,  and  ceilings 
of  all  skillfnlly  intermingled  hues,- and  walls  upliolstered  with  all  the  colors  of  the  setting 
sun,  and  sofas  on  which  to  recline  for  slnmber  after  the  plnnge.  Yonder  are  the  barracks 
of  the  celebrated  gladiators.  Yonder  is  the  snmmer  home  of  Sallust,  the  Roman  historian 
and  senator,  the  architecture  as  elaborate  as  his  cliaracter  was  corrupt.  There  is  the  resi- 
dence of  the  poet  Pansa,  with  a  compressed  Lou\Te  and    Lu.xembourg   within  his  walls. 


HKIi-TIiiX    OF  VESl'\'IUS. 


There  is  the  home  of  Lucretius,  with  vases  and  antiquities  enough  to  turn  the  head  of  a 
virtuoso.  Yonder  see  the  Forum,  at  the  highest  place  of  the  city.  It  is  entered  b\-  two 
triumphal  arches.  It  is  bounded  on  three  sides  by  Doric  columns.  Yonder,  in  the  suburbs 
nf  the  city,  is  the  home  of  Arrius  Diomed,  the  mayor  of  the  suburbs,  terraced  residence 
of  billionairedom,  gardens,  fonntained,  statued,  colonnaded,  the  cellar  of  that  villa  filled 
with  bottles  of  rarest  wine,  a  few  drops  of  which  were  found  eighteen  hundred  years  after- 
ward. Along  the  streets  of  the  city  are  men  of  might  and  women  of  beauty  formed  into 
bronze  that  many  centuries  had  no  power  to  bedim.  Battle  scenes  on  walls  in  colors  which 
all  time  cannot  efface.  Great  city  of  Pompeii !  So  Seneca  and  Tacitus  and  Cicero 
pronounced  it. 

Stand  with  me  on  its  walls  this  evening  of  August  23,  A.  D.  79.  See  the  throngs 
passing  up  and  down  in  Tyrian  purple  and  girdles  of  arabesque  and  necks  enchained  with 
precious  stones,  proud  official  in  imposing  toga  meeting  the  slave  carrving  trays  a-clink 
with  goblets  and  a-smoke  with  delicacies  from  paddock  and  sea,  and  moralist  musing  over 


382 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


the  degradation  of  the  times  passes  the  profligate  doing  his  best  to  make  them  worse.  Hark 
to  the  clatter  and  rataplan  of  the  hoofs  on  the  streets  paved  with  blocks  of  basalt.  See  the 
verdnred  and  flowered  grounds  sloping  into  one  of  the  most  beantifnl  bays  of  all  the  earth — 
the  Bay  of  Naples.  Listen  to  the  rumbling  chariots,  carrying  convivial  occupants  to  halls  of 
mirth  and  masquerade  and  carousal.  Hear  the  loud  dash  of  fountains  amid  the  sculptured 
water  nymphs.  Notice  the  weird,  solemn,  far-reaching  hum  and  din  and  roar  of  a  city  at 
the  close  of  a  summer  day.  Let  Pompeii  sleep  well  to-night,  for  it  is  the  last  night  of 
peaceful  slumber  oefore  she  falls  into  the  deep  slumber  of  many  long  centuries.  The 
morning  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  A.  D.  79,  has  arrived,  and  the  day  rolls  on,  and  it  is 

one    o'clock    in    the    afternoon : 


s~~ 


I. 


A 


"  Look  !  "  I  say  to  you,  stand- 
ing on  this  wall,  as  the  sister  of 
Pliny  said  to  him,  the  Roman 
essajist  and  naval  commander, 
on  the  day  of  which  I  write,  as 
she  pointed  him  in  the  direction 
in  which  I  point  you.  There  is 
a  peculiar  cloud  on  the  sky  ;  a 
spotted  cloud,  now  white,  now 
black.  It  is  Vesuvius  in  awful 
and  unparalleled  eruption.  Now 
llie  smoke  and  fire  and  steam  of 
that  black  monster  throat  rise 
and  spread.  It  rises,  a  great 
rolnmn  of  fiery  darkness,  higher 
and  higher,  and  then  spreads 
out  like  the  branches  of  a  tree, 
with  midnights  interwrapped  in 
its  foliage,  wider  and  wider. 
Xow  the  sun  goes  out  and 
showers  of  pumice  stone  and 
water  from  furnaces  more  than 
seven  times  heated,  and  ashes 
in  avalanche  after  avalanche, 
blinding  and  scalding  and  suf- 
focating, descend.  North,  South, 
East  and  West,  bur>-ing  deeper 
and  deeper  in  mammoth  sepul- 
chre, such  as  never  before  or  since  was  opened.  Stabile,  Herculanenm,  and  Pompeii.  Ashes 
ankle  deep,  girdle  deep,  chin  deep,  ashes  overhead.  Out  of  the  houses  and  temples  and 
theatres,  and  into  the  streets  and  down  to  the  beach  fled  many  of  the  frantic,  but  others,  if  not 
suffocated  of  the  ashes,  were  scalded  to  death  by  the  heated  deluge.  And  then  came  heavier 
destruction  in  rocks  after  rocks,  crushing  in  homes  and  temples  and  theatres.  No  wonder 
the  sea  receded  from  the  beach  as  though  in  terror,  until  much  of  the  shipping  was  wrecked, 
and  no  wonder  that,  when  they  lifted  Pliny  the  elder  from  the  sail  cloth  on  which  he  was 
resting,  under  the  agitations  of  what  he  had  seen,  he  suddenly  expired.  For  three  da>s  the 
entombment    proceeded.      Then   the   clouds    lifted  and   the   cursing  of  that  Apollyon  of 


^^,^ 

-■^ 

iw^'^ 

fM^B^I^' 

,Sr 

^■wefe^-^-ii' ■ 

f 

— 

STRKKT   OF   THE   TOMBS,    POMPEH. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


383 


Mountains  subsided.  For  seventeen  hundred  years  that  city  of  Pompeii  lay  buried  and 
without  anything  to  show  its  place  of  doom.  But  after  seventeen  hundred  years  of  oblitera- 
tion, a  workman's  spade,  digging  a  well,  strikes  some  antiquities  which  lead  to  the  exhuma- 
tion of  the  city.  Now  walk  with  me  through  some  of  the  streets  and  into  some  of  the 
houses  and  amid  the  ruins  of  Basilica,  and  Temple,  and  Amphitheatre. 

From  the  moment  the  guide  met  us  at  the  gate  on  entering  Pompeii  that  day  until  he 
left  us  at  the  gate  on  our  departure,  the  emotion  I  felt  was  indescribable  for  elevation  and 
solemnity,  and  sorrow  and  awe.  Come  and  see  the  petrified  bodies  of  the  dead  found  in 
the  city,  and  now  in  the  museums  of  Italy.  About  four  hundred  and  fift}-  of  those  embalmed 
by  that  eruption  have  been  recovered.  ^Mother  and  child,  noble  and  serf,  merchant  and 
beggar,  are  presentable  and  natural  after  seventeen  hundred  years  of  burial.      That  woman 


CAST   OF    A    HUMAN   BODY   FOUND   IN   THE    RnNS   OF   POMPFII. 

was  found  clutching  her  adornments  when  the  storm  of  ashes  and  fire  began,  and  for  seven- 
teen hundred  \-ears  she  continued  to  clutch  them.  There  at  the  soldiers'  barracks  are  si.xty- 
four  skeletons  of  brave  men,  who  faithfully  stood  guard  at  their  post  when  the  tempest  of 
cinders  began,  and  after  seventeen  hundred  years  were  still  found  standing  guard.  There 
is  the  form  of  gentle  womanhood  impressed  upon  the  hardened  ashes.  Pass  along,  and  here 
we  see  the  deep  ruts  in  the  basaltic  pavements  worn  there  by  the  wheels  of  the  chariots  of 
the  first  century.  There,  over  the  dooi-ways  and  in  the  porticoes,  are  works  of  art  immortal- 
izing the  debauchery  of  a  city,  which,  notwithstanding  all  its  splendors,  was  a  vestibule  of 
perdition.  Those  gutters  ran  with  the  blood  of  the  gladiators,  who  were  the  prize-fighters 
of  those  ancient  times,  and  it  was  sword  parrying  sword,  until,  with  one  skillful  and  stout 


384  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

plunge  of  the  sharp  edge,  the  mauled  and  gashed  combatant  reeled  over  dead,  to  be  carried 
out  amid  the  huzzas  of  enraptured  spectators.  We  staid  among  those  suggestive  scenes  after 
the  hour  that  visitors  are  usually  allowed  there,  and  staid  until  there  was  not  a  foot  fall  to 
be  heard  within  all  that  city,  except  our  own.  Up  this  silent  street  and  down  that  silent 
street  we  wandered.  Into  that  windowless  and  roofless  home  we  went  and  came  out  again 
on  to  the  pavements  that,  now  forsaken,  were  once  thronged  with  life. 

And  can  it  be  that  all  up  and  down  these  solemn  solitudes,  hearts,  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  rears  ago,  ached  and  rejoiced,  and  feet  shuffled  with  the  gait  of  old  age  or  danced 
with  childish  glee,  and  overtasked  workmen  carried  their  burdens,  and  drunkards  staggered? 
On  that  mosaic  floor  did  glowing  youth  clasp  hands  in  marriage  vow,  and  across  that  thres- 
hold did  pall-bearers  carr\'  the  beloved  dead,  and  gay  groups  once  mount  those  now  skele- 
tons of  staircases?  While  I  walked  and  contemplated,  the  city  seemed  suddenly  to  be 
thronged  with  all  the  population  that  had  ever  inhabited  it,  and  I  heard  its  laughter  and 
groan  and  blasphemy  and  uncleanness  and  infernal  boast,  as  it  was  on  the  twenty-third  of 
August,  79.  And  Vesuvius,  from  the  mild  light  with  which  it  flushed  the  sky  that  sunnner 
evening  as  I  stood  in  disentombed  Pompeii,  seemed  suddenly  again  to  heave  and  flame  and 
rock  with  the  lava  and  darkness  and  desolation  and  woe,  with  which,  more  than  eighteen 
centuries  ago,  it  submerged  Pompeii. 

While  walking  through  uncovered  Pompeii  I  am  absorbed  with  the  thought  that,  while 
art  and  culture  are  important,  they  cannot  save  the  morals  or  the  life  of  a  great  town. 
Much  of  the  painting  and  sculpture  of  Pompeii  was  so  exquisite  that,  while  some  is  kept 
on  the  walls  where  it  was  first  penciled,  to  be  admired  by  those  who  go  there,  whole  wagon 
loads  and  whole  rooms  full  of  it  have  been  transferred  to  the  Museo  Borbonico  at  Naples, 
to  be  admired  b\-  the  centuries.  Those  Ponipeiian  artists  mixed  such  durability  of  colors 
that  though  their  paintings  were  buried  in  ashes  and  scorire  for  seventeen  hundred  years, 
and  since  they  were  uncovered  many  of  them  have  remained  there  exposed  to  the  rains  and 
winds  and  winters  and  summers  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  years,  the  color  is  as  fresh  and  vivid 
and  true  as  though  yesterday  it  had  passed  from  the  easel.  Which  of  our  modern  paintings 
could  stand  all  that  ?  And  yet  many  of  the  specimens  of  Ponipeiian  art  show  that  the  city 
was  sunk  to  such  a  depth  of  abomination  that  there  was  nothing  deeper.  Sculptured  and 
petrified  and  embalmed  abomination.  There  was  a  state  of  public  morals  worse  than  belongs 
to  any  city  now  standing  under  the  sun.  Yet,  how  many  think  that  all  that  is  necessary  is 
to  cultivate  the  mind  and  advance  the  knowledge,  and  impro\-e  the  arts.  Have  yon  the 
impression  that  eloquence  will  do  the  elevating  work  ?  Why,  Pompeii  had  Cicero  half 
of  everv  vear  for  its  citizen.  Have  >-ou  the  idea  that  literature  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
keep  a  city  right?  Win-,  Sallnst,  with  a  pen  that  was  the  boast  of  Roman  literature,  had 
a  mansion  in  that  doomed  city.  Do  you  think  that  sculpture  and  art  are  quite  sufficient  for 
the  production  of  good  morals?  Then,  correct  your  delusion  by  examining  the  statues  in 
the  Temple  of  Mercury  at  Ponipeii,  or  the  winged  figures  of  its  Parthenon,  and  the  colon- 
nades and  arches  of  this  house  of  Diomed.  By  all  means  have  schools  and  Dusseldorf  and 
Dore  exhibitions,  and  galleries  where  the  genius  of  all  the  centuries  can  bank  itself  up  in 
snowy  sculpture,  and  all  bric-a-brac,  and  all  pure  art,  but  nothing,  save  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  can  make  a  citv  moral.  In  proportion  as  churches  and  Bibles  and  Christian  print- 
ing presses  and  revivals  of  religion  abound  is  a  city  clean  and  pure.  What  has  Buddhism 
or  Confucianism  or  ]\Iohamniedanisin,  done  in  all  the  hundreds  of  years  of  their  progress 
for  the  elevation  of  societ>-  ?  Absolutely  nothing.  Pekiu  and  IMadras  and  Cairo  are  just 
what  they  were  ages  ago,  except  as  Christianity  has  modified  their  condition.     What  is  the 


^ 


THE    WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


385 


difference  between  our  Brooklyn  and  their  Pompeii?  No  difference,  except  that  which 
ChristianitN-  has  wrought.  Favor  all  good  art,  but  take  best  care  of  your  churches  and  your 
Sabbath  Sciiools  and  your  Bibles  and  your  family  altars. 

Yea,  see  in  our  walk  to-da_\-  through  uncovered  Pompeii  what  sin  will  do  for  a  cib,-. 
We  ought  to  be  slow  to  assign  the  judgments  of  God.     Cities  are  sometimes  afflicted  just 
as  good  people  are  afflicted,  and  the  earthquake  and  the  cyclone  and  the  epidemic  are  no 
sign  in  many  cases  that  God  is  angr\-  with  a  city,  but  the  distress  is  sent  for  some  good  and 
kind  purpose,  whether  we  understand  it  or  not.     The  law  that  applies  to  individuals  mav 
apply  to  Christian  cities  as  well :  "  All  tilings  work  togetlier  for  good  to  those  that  love 
God."     But  the  greatest  calamity  of 
history  came  upon   Pompeii   not   to 
improve  its  future  condition,  for  it 
was  completely  obliterated  and   will 
never  be  rebuilt.      It  was  .so  bad  that 
it   needed    to    be    buried    seventeen 
hundred  years  before  even  its  ruins 
were  fit  to  be  uncovered.     So  Sodom 
and  (iomorrah  were  filled  with  such 
turpitude    that    tlie)-  were    not  only 
turned  under,  but  have  for  thousands 
of  years  been  kept  under.     The  two 
greatest  cemeteries  are  the  cemetery 
in  which  the  sunken  ships  are  buried 
all   the  way  between  Fire  Island  and 
Fastnet  Ivight  House,  and  the  other 
cemetery    is    the    cemetery   of  dead 
cities.     I  get  down  on  lu)-  knees  and 
read   the   epitaplieology    of    a    long 
line    of    them :     Here    lies    Babylon, 
once    called    "  The    hammer    of    the 
whole    earth."       Dead    and    buried 
under  piles  of  bitumen  and  broken 
pottery  and  vitrified   brick.       And    I 
hear  a  wolf  howl  and  a  reptile  hiss 
as  I  read  this  epitaph:  Isa.  xiii.:  21, 
"  The  wild  beast  of  the  desert  shall 
be   there  and  their  houses  shall    be  full  of  doleful   creatures."     The  ne.xt  tomb  I  kneel 
before    in    this    cemetery   of    cities    is    Nineveh.      Her  winged   lions  are   down    and    the 
slabs  of   alabaster  have   crumbled,  and  the  sculpture  that    represented    her   battles  is   as 
completely  scattered  as  the  dust  of  the  heroes  who  fought  them.     Perhaps  I  jnit  m\-  knee 
into  the  dust  of   her   Sardanapalus  as  I  stoop  to    read    her    epitaph  :    Zephan.iah   ii.    14, 
"Now   is   Nineveh   a    desolation   and   dry    like    a  wilderness;  and   flocks  lie  down  in   the 
midst  of  her  :   all    the   beasts  of  the  nations,   both   the  cormorant  and    tlic    bittern,  lodge 
ill  the  upper  lintels  of  it."     And  while  I  read  it  I  hear  an  owl  hoot,  and  a  hyena  laugh. 

Tiie  next    entombed    city    I    pass  has    a    monument    of    fifty    prostrate   columns    of 
gray  and  red    granite  and  it  is  T>Te.     The   next  sepulchre  of  a  great  capital  is  covered 
with  scattered    cohiinns,   and    defaced    sphinxes,   and    the  sands  of  the  desert,   and    it   is 
25 


CRATER    OK    VliSUVIUS. 


3«6 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


Thebes.  As  I  pass  on  I  find  the  resting  place  of  Mycenae,  a  city  of  which  Homer  sang, 
and  Corinth  which  rejected  Paul,  and  depended  upon  her  fortress  Acrocorinthus,  which 
now  lies  dismantled  on  the  hill,  and  I  move  on  in  this  cemetery  of  cities,  and  I  find 
the  tombs  of  Sardis  and  Smyrna,  and  Persepolis,  and  Memphis,  and  Baalbek,  and  Carthage^ 
and  here  are  the  Cities  of  the  Plain,  and  Hercnlanenm  and  Stabia,  and  Pompeii.  Some 
of  them  have  mighty  sarcophagi,  and  hieroglyphic  entablature,  but  they  are  dead,  and 
buried  never  to  rise. 

But  the  cemetery  of  dead  cities  is  not  yet  filled,  and  if  the  present  cities  of  the  world 
forget  God,  and  with  their  indecencies  shock  the  heavens,  let  them  know  that  the  God,  who^ 

on  the  twenty-fourth  of  August, 
79,  dropped  on  a  city  of  Italy  a 
superincumbrance  that  staid 
there  seventeen  centuries,  is  still 
alive  and  hates  sin  now  as  much 
as  He  did  then  and  has  at  his 
command  all  the  armament  of 
destruction  with  which  He 
whelmed  their  iniquitous  pre- 
decessors. It  was  only  a  few 
summers  ago  that  Brooklyn  and 
New  York  felt  an  earthquake 
throb  that  sent  the  people 
affrighted  into  the  streets,  and 
that  suggested  that  there  are 
forces  of  nature  now  suppressed, 
or  held  in  check,  which,  easier 
than  a  child  in  a  nursery  knocks 
down  a  row  of  block  liouses, 
could  prostrate  a  city,  or  engulph 
a  continent  deeper  than  Pompeii 
was  engulphed.  Our  hope  is  in 
the  mercy  of  the  Lord  continued 
to  our  American  cities. 

Warned    by    the   doom   of 

other  cities   that  have  perished 

for   their    RuflSanism,    or    their 

Cruelty,  or  their  Idolatry  or  their 

right    way.       Our   only    dependence 

Politics  will   do  nothing  but   make    things  worse. 


INTERIOR    OF   THE    MUSEUM,    I'OMPEII. 


Dissoluteness,  let  all  our  American  cities  lead  the 
is  on  God  and  Christian  influences. 
Send  politics  to  moralize  and  save  a  city  and  you  send  small-pox  to  heal  leprosy,  or 
a  carcass  to  relieve  the  air  of  malodor.  American  politics  will  become  a  reformatory  power 
on  the  same  day  that  pandenionium  becomes  a  church.  But  there  are  I  am  glad  to  say  benign 
and  salutary  and  gracious  influences  organized  in  all  our  cities  which  will  yet  take  them  for 
God  and  righteousness.  Let  us  ply  the  Gospel  machinery  to  its  utmost  speed  and  power. 
City  evangelization  is  the  thought.  Accustomed  as  are  religious  pessimists  to  dwell  upon 
statistics  of  evil  and  dolorous  facts,  we  want  some  one  with  sanctified  heart  and  good 
digestion  to  put  in  long  line  the  statistics  of  natures  transformed,  and  profligacies  balked, 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


5S7 


and  souls  ransomed,  and  cities  redeemed.  Give  us  pictures  of  churches,  of  schools,  of 
reformatory  associations,  of  asvhnns  of  merc\'.  Break  in  upon  the  Miscfcrcs  of  complaint 
and  despondency  with  Tc  Dcudis,  Jubilates  of  moral  and  religious  victory.  vShow  that  the  day 
is  coming  when  a  great  tidal  wave  of  salvation  will  roll  over  all  our  cities.  Show  how  Pom- 
peii buried  will  become  Pompeii  resurrected.  Demonstrate  the  fact  that  there' are  millions 
of  good  men  and  women  who  will  give  themselves  no  rest  day  nor  night  until  cities  that  are 
now  of  the  type  of  the  buried  cities  of  Italy  shall  take  type  from  the  New  Jerusalem 
coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven.  I  hail  the  advancing  morn.  I  make  the  same  proc- 
lamation to-day  that  Gideon  made  to  the  shivering  cowards  of  his  army.  "  Whosoever 
is  fearful  and  afraid,  let  him  return  and  depart  early  from  Mount  Gilead."  Close  up  the 
lanks.  Lift  the  Gospel  standard.  Forward  into  this  Armageddon  that  is  now  opening  and 
let  the  word  run  all  along  the  line.  All  oirr  cities  for  God  !  America  for  God  I  The  world 
for  God  1  The  most  of  us  though  born  in  the  country,  will  die  in  town.  Shall  our  last 
walk  be  through  streets  where  sobriety  and  good  order  dominate,  or  grog-shops  stench  the 
air?  Shall  our  last  look  be  upon  City  Halls  where  justice  reigns,  or  demagogues  plot  for 
the  stuffing  of  ballot-bo.xes  ?  Shall  we  sit  for  the  last  time  in  some  church  where  God  is 
worshiped  with  the  contrite  heart  or  where  cold  formalism  goes  through  unmeaning  genu- 
flexions ?  God  save  the  cities  !  Righteousness  is  life,  iniqxut\' is  death.  Remember  pic- 
turesque, terraced,  templed,  sculptured,  boastful,  God-def\iug  and  entombed  Pompeii  ! 


CHAPTER  XUr. 

THE  COLOSSEUM. 

GO  ONE  would  think  of  making  an  extensive  journey  through  Europe  without 
visiting  Rome,  and  having  seen  it  once  it  never  passes  out  of  your  memory. 
Rome !  What  a  city  it  was  when  Paul  \'isited  it !  What  a  city  it  is  now ! 
Rome  !  The  place  where  Virgil  sang  and  Horace  satirized  and  Terence  laughed 
and  Catiline  conspired  and  Ovid  dramatized  and  Nero  fiddled  and  Vespasian  persecuted 
and  Sulla  legislated  and  Cicero  thundered  and  Aurelius  and  Decius  and  Caligula  and  Julian 
•and  Hadrian  and  Constantine  and  Augustus  reigned,  and  Paul,  the  apostle,  preached  the 
vGospel. 

I  am  not  much  of  a  draftsman,  but  I  have  in  my  memorandum  book  a  sketch  whicli 
I  made  when  I  went  out  to  the  gate  through  which  Paul  entered  Rome,  and  walked  up  the 
verv  street  he  walked  up  to  see  somewhat  how  the  city  must  have  looked  to  him  as  he  came 
in  on  the  Gospel  errand.  Palaces  on  either  side  of  the  street  through  which  the  little  mis- 
sionary advanced.  Piled  up  wickedness.  Enthroned  accursedness.  Templed  cruelties. 
Altars  to  sham  deities.  Glorified  delusions.  Pillared,  arched,  domed,  turreted  abomina- 
tions. Wickedness  of  all  sorts  at  a  high  premium  and  Righteousness  ninety-nine  and  three- 
fourths  per  cent  off.  And  now  he  passes  b\-  the  foundations  of  a  building  which  is  to  be 
almost  unparalleled  for  vastness.  You  can  see  l^y  the  walls,  which  have  begun  to  rise,  that 
here  is  to  be  something  enough  stupendous  to  astound  the  centuries.  Aye,  it  is  the  Colos- 
seum started. 

Of  the  theatre  at  Ephesus  where  Paul  fought  with  wild  beasts,  of  the  Temple  of 
Diana,  of  the  Parthenon,  of  Pharaoh's  palace  at  ?klemphis,  and  of  other  great  buildings, 
the  ruins  of  which  I  have  seen,  it  has  been  my  pri\-ilege  to  write,  but  nothing  1  have  seen 
as  vet  impresses  me  more  than  the  Colosseum. 

Perhaps,  while  in  Rome,  the  law  of  contrast  wrought  upon  me.  I  had  visited  the 
Mamertine  dungeon  where  Paul  was  incarcerated.  I  had  measured  the  opening  at  the  top 
of  the  dungeon  througli  which  Paul  had  been  let  down  and  it  was  twenty-three  inclies  by 
twentv-six.  The  ceiling,  at  its  highest  point,  was  seven  feet  from  the  floor,  but  at  the  sides 
of  the  room  the  ceiling  was  five  feet  seven  inches.  The  room,  at  the  widest,  was  fifteen 
feet  There  was  a  seat  of  rock  two  and  a  half  feet  high.  There  was  a  shelf  four 
feet  high.  The  onl\-  furniture  was  a  spider's  web  suspended  from  the  roof,  which  I 
saw  bv  the  torchlight  I  carried.  There  was  a  subterraneous  passage  from  the  dungeon 
to  the  Roman  forum,  so  that  the  prisoner  could  be  taken  directly  from  prison  to  trial. 
The  dungeon  was  built  out  of  volcanic  stone  from  the  Albano  Mountains.  Oh,  it  was 
a  dismal  and  terrific  place.  You  never  saw  coal  hole  so  dark  or  so  forbidding.  The 
place  was  to  me  a  nervous  shock,  for  I  remembered  that  was  the  best  thing  that  the 
world  would  afford  the  most  illustrious  being,  except  One,  that  it  ever  saw,  and  that 
from  that  place  Paul  went  out  to  die.  From  that  spot  I  visited  the  Colosseum,  one  of  the 
most  astounding  miracles  of  architecture  that  the  world  ever  saw.  Indeed  I  saw  it  morning, 
noon  and  night,  for  it  threw  a  spell  on  me  from  \\hich  I  could  not  break  away.     Although 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


J89 


now  a  vast  niiii,  the  Colosseum  is  so  well  preserved  that  we  can  stand  in  the  centre  and 
recall  all  that  it  once  was.  It  is  in  shape  ellipsoidal,  oval,  oblong.  It  is,  at  its  greatest 
length,  six  hundred  and  twelve  feet.  After  it  had  furnished  seats  for  eighty-seven  thousand 
jieople,  it  had  room  for  fifteen  thousand  more  to  stand,  so  that  one  hundred  thousand  people 
could  sit  and  stand  transfixed  by  its  scenes  of  courage  and  martyrdom  and  brutality  and 
horror.  Instead  of  our  modern  tickets  of  admission,  they  entered  by  ivory  check,  and  a 
check  dug  up  near  Rome  within  a  few  years,  was  marked  :  "  Section  6,  Lowest  Tier,  .Seat 
No.  18."  You  understand  that  the  building  was  not  constructed  for  an  audience  to  be 
addre.ssed  by  a  human  voice,  although  I  tested  it  witli  some  friends  and  could  be  heard 
across  it,  but  it  was  made  onh-  for 
seeing  and  was  circular,  and  at 
any  point  allowed  full  \'iew  of  the 
spectacle.  The  arena  in  the  centre 
in  olden  times  was  strewn  with 
pounded  stone  or  sand,  so  as  not 
to  be  too  slipper}'  with  human 
blood,  for  if  it  were  too  slippery 
it  would  spoil  the  fun.  The  .sand 
flashed  here  and  there  with 
sparkles  of  silver  and  gold,  and 
Nero  added  cinnabar,  and  Caligula 
added  chrysocolla.  The  sides  of 
the  arena  were  composed  of 
smooth  marble,  ele\-en  feet  high, 
so  that  the  wild  beasts  of  the  arena 
could  not  climb  up  into  the  audi- 
ence. On  the  top  of  these  sides 
of  smooth  marble  was  a  metal 
railing,  having  wooden  rollers 
which  easily  revolved,  so  that  if 
a  panther  should  leap  high  enough 
to  scale  the  wall  and  with  his  paw 
touch  any  one  of  those  rollers,  it 
would  revolve  and  drop  him  back 
again  into  the  arena.  Back  of  this 
marble  wall  surrounding  the  arena 
was    a    level    platform    of    stone, 

adorned  with  statues  of  gods  and  goddesses  and  the  artistic  effigies  of  monarchs  and 
conquerors.  Here  were  movable  seats  for  the  emperor  and  the  imperial  swine  and 
swinesses  with  which  he  .surrounded  himself  Before  the  place  where  the  emperor 
sat,  the  gladiators  would  walk  immediately  after  entering  the  arena,  crying :  "  Hail, 
Ctesar!  Those  about  to  die  salute  thee."  The  different  ranks  of  spectators  were  divided 
by  partitions  studded  with  mosaics  of  emerald  and  beryl  and  rub\-  and  diamond.  Great 
masts  of  wood  arose  from  all  sides  of  the  building,  from  which  festoons  of  flowers 
were  suspended,  crossing  the  building,  or  in  time  of  rain,  awnings  of  silk  were  sus- 
pended, the  Colosseum  having  no  roof.  The  outside  wall  was  enci'usted  with  marble 
and  had  four  ranges,  and  the  three  lower  ranges  had  eighty  columns  each  and  arches  after 


-.J.l    M,      K'  IMI. 


39° 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


arches,  and  on  each  arch  an  exquisite  statue  of  a  god  or  a  hero.  Into  one  hundred  and 
eightv  feet  of  altitude  soared  the  Colosseum.  It  glittered  and  flashed  and  shone  with  whole 
sunrises  and  sunsets  of  dazzlement.  After  the  audience  had  assembled,  aromatic  liquids 
oozed  from  tubes  distilled  from  pipes  and  rained  gently  on  the  multitudes,  and  filled  the 
air  with  odors  of  liyacinth  and  heliotrope  and  frankincense  and  balsam  and  myrrh  and 
saffron,  so  that  Lucan,  the  poet,  says  of  it : 

At  once  ten  thousand  saffron  currents  flow, 
And  rain  their  odors  on  the  crowd  below. 

But  where  was  the  sport  to  come  from  ?    Well,  I  went  into  the  cellars  opening  off  from 
the  arena,  and  I  saw  the  places  where  they  kept  the  hyenas  and  lions  and  panthers  and 

wild  boars  and  beastly 
violences  of  all  sorts,  with- 
out food  or  water  until 
made  fierce  enough  for 
the  arena,  and  I  saw  the 
underground  rooms  where 
the  gladiators  were  accus- 
tomed to  wait  until  the 
clapping  of  the  people 
outside  demanded  that 
they  come  forth  armed  to 
murder  or  to  be  murdered. 
All  the  arrangements  were 
complete,  as  enough  of  the 
cellars  and  galleries  still 
remain  to  indicate.  What 
fun  they  must  have  had 
turning  lions  without  food 
or  drink  for  a  week,  upon 
an  unarmed  disciple  of 
Jesus  Christ !  At  the  dedi- 
cation of  this  Colosseum, 
nine  thousand  wild  beasts 
and  ten  thousand  immortal 
men  were  slain  ;  so  that 
the  blood  of  men  and  beast  was  not  a  brook  but  a  river,  not  a  pool  but  a  lake.  Having 
been  in  that  way  dedicated,  be  not  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  Emperor  Probus 
on  one  occasion  threw  into  that  arena  of  the  Colosseum  a  thousand  stags,  a  thousand 
boars  and  a  thousand  ostriches.  What  fun  it  must  have  been !  the  sotnid  of  trumpets, 
the  roar  of  wild  beasts  and  the  groans  of  dying  men  !  while  in  the  gallery  the  wives 
and  children  of  those  down  under  the  lion's  paw  wrung  their  hands  and  shrieked  out 
in  widowhood  and  orphanage,  while  one  hundred  thousand  people  clapped  their  hands,  and 
there  was  a  "  Ha !  Ha  !  "  wide  as  Rome  and  deep  as  perdition.  The  corpses  of  that  arena 
were  put  on  a  cart  or  dragged  by  a  hook  out  through  what  was  called  the  Gate  of  Death. 
What  an  excitement  it  must  have  been  when  two  combatants  entered  the  arena,  the  one 
with  sword   and  shield  and   the  other  with   net   and  spear.      The  swordsman  strikes  at  the 


TEMPLK    OF   MINERVA,    ROMP:. 

Minerva  was  a  Roman  sotldess  reijarded  as  the  impersonation  of  .<liviiie  thonght.  She 
was  accordingly  the  patroness  of  arts,  trades,  and  war,  and  was  invoked  by  painters  poets, 
craftsmen  and  heroes.  Her  oldest  temple  at  Rome  was  on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  pictnred 
above.  She  was  a  deity  of  the  Greeks  under  the  name  of  Pallas  Athene.  Her  most  cele- 
brated and  colossal  statne  was  that  made  by  Phidias,  of  gold  and  ivory,  which  was  once  the 
glory  of  the  I'arthenon. 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


391 


man  witli  tlie  net  and  spear  ;  he  dodges  the  sword,  and  then  flings  the  net  over  the  head  of 
the  swordsman  and  jerks  him  to  tlie  floor  of  the  arena,  and  the  man  who  flnng  the  net  pnts 
his  foot  on  the  neck  of  the  fallen  swordsman,  and,  spear  in  hand,  looks  np  to  the  galleries, 
as  much  as  to  say  :  "  Shall  I  let  him  np,  or  shall  I  pkmge  this  spear  into  his  body  until 
he  is  dead  ? "  The  audience  had  two  signs,  either  of  which  they  miglit  give.  If  they 
waved  their  flags,  it  meant  spare  the  fallen  contestant.  If  they  turned  their  thumbs  down, 
it  meant  slay  him.  Occasionally  the  audience  would  wave  their  flags  and  tlie  fallen  would 
be  let  up,  but  that  was  too  tame  sport  for  most  occasions,  and  generalh-  the  thumbs  from 
the  galleries  were  turned  down, 
and  with  that  sign  would  be 
heard  the  accompanying  shout  of 
"Kill!  Kill!  Kill!  Kill!" 

Yet  it  was  far  from  being  a 
monotone  of  sport,  for  there  was 
a  change  of  program  in  that 
wondrous  Colosseum.  Under  a 
strange  and  powerful  machinery, 
beyond  anything  of  modern  in- 
vention, the  floor  of  the  arena 
would  begin  to  rock  and  roll  and 
then  give  away,  and  there  would 
appear  a  lake  of  bright  water, 
and  on  its  banks  trees  would 
spring  np  rustling  with  foliage, 
and  tigers  appeared  among  the 
jungles,  and  armed  men  would 
come  forth,  and  there  would  be 
a  tiger  hunt.  Then,  on  the  lake 
in  the  Colosseum,  armed  ships 
would  float,  and  there  wotild  be  a 
sea  fight.  What  fun!  Wiiat 
lots  of  fun  I  When  pestilence 
came,  in  order  to  appease  the 
gods,  in  this  Colosseum  a  sacri- 
fice would  be  made,  and  the 
people  would  throng  that  great 
amphitheatre,  shouting  :  "  The 
Christians  to  the  wild  beasts,"  and  there  would  be  a  crackling  of  human  bones  in  the  jaws 
of  leonine  ferocit\'. 

But  all  this  was  to  be  stopped.  B\-  the  outraged  sense  of  public  decency  !  No.  There 
is  only  one  thing  that  has  ever  stopped  crueltv  and  sin,  and  that  is  Christianit}',  and  it  was 
Christianity-,  wiiether  }-ou  like  its  fonu  or  not,  that  stopped  this  massacre  of  centuries.  One 
day  while,  in  the  Colosseum,  a  Roman  victor\-  was  being  celebrated,  and  one  hundred  thou- 
sand enraptured  spectators  were  looking  down  upon  two  gladiators  in  the  arena,  stabbing 
and  slicing  each  other  to  death,  an  Asiatic  monk  by  the  name  of  Telemachus  was  so  over- 
come by  the  cruelty  that  he  leaped  from  the  gallery  into  the  arena  and  ran  in  between  the 
two    swordsmen,  and    pushed   first    one   back   and  then   the   other   back  and  broke  up  the 


ALTAR   TO   THE   VNk.M.W.N    l.ul. 


392 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


contest.  Of  course,  the  audience  was  affronted  at  having  their  sport  stopped,  and  they  hurled 
stones  at  tlie  head  of  Teleinachus  until  he  fell  dead  in  the  arena.  But  when  the  da>-  was 
passed  and  the  passions  of  the  people  had  cooled  off,  they  deplored  the  martyrdom  of  tlie 
brave  and  Christian  Telemachus,  and  as  a  result  of  the  overdone  cruelty  the  Inunan  sacrifices 
of  the  Colosseum  were  forever  abolished. 

What  a  good  thing,  say  you,  that  such  cruelties  have  ceased.  But,  my  reader,  the  same 
spirit  of  ruinous  amusements  and  of  moral  sacrifice  is  abroad  in  the  world  to-day  although 
it  takes  other  shapes.      One  summer  in  our  country   there  occurred  a  scene  of  pugilism  on 

which  all  Christendom  looked 
down,  for  I  saw  the  papers  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  ocean 
giving  whole  columns  of  it.  Will 
some  one  tell  me  in  what  respect 
the  brutality  of  that  day  was  su- 
perior to  the  brutality  of  the 
Roman  Colosseum  ?  In  some  re- 
spects it  was  worse,  by  so  much  as 
the  Nineteenth  Century  pretends 
to  be  more  merciful  and  more 
decent  than  the  Fifth  Century. 
That  pugilism  is  winning  admir- 
ation in  America  is  positively 
proved  by  the  fact  that  years  ago 
such  collision  was  reported  in  a 
half  dozen  lines  of  newspaper,  if 
reported  at  all,  and  now  it  takes 
the  whole  side  of  a  newspaper  to 
tell  what  transpired  between  the 
first  blood  drawn  by  one  loafer  and 
the  throwing  up  of  the  sponge  by 
the  other  loafer,  and  it  is  not  the 
newspaper's  fault,  for  the  news- 
papers give  onh'  what  the  people 
want,  and  when  newspapers  put 
carrion  on  your  table,  it  is  because 
you  prefer  carrion.  The  same 
spirit  of  brutality  is  seen  to-day  in 
many  an  ecclesiastical  court  when 
a  minister  is  put  on  trial.  Look  at  the  countenances  of  the  prosecuting  ministers  and,  not 
in  all  cases,  but  in  many  ca.ses,  you  will  find  nothing  but  diabolism  inspires  them.  They 
let  out  on  one  poor  minister  who  cannot  defend  himself,  the  lion  of  ecclesiasticism  and  the 
tiger  of  bigotry  and  the  wild  boar  of  jealousy  and  if  they  can  get  the  offending  minister 
fiat  on  his  back,  .some  one  puts  his  feet  on  the  neck  of  the  overthrown  Gospelizer  and  looks 
up,  spear  in  hand,  to  see  whether  the  galleries  and  ecclesiastics  would  have  him  let  up  or 
slain.     And,  lo  !  many  of  the  thumbs  are  down. 

In  the  worldly  realms  look  at  the  brutalities  of  the  presidential  election  a  few  years 
ago.     Read  the  biographies  of  Daniel  Webster  and   Alexander  H.    Stephens  and  Horace 


fjnemusss^  ij'*^-} 


INTKKlul;    .il'     lUl'. 


CHAPKL   ON   THE   SPOT   WHERE   ,ST.    PETER 
WAS    CRUCIFIED. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY, 


393 


Greeley  and  Charles  Sumner  and  Lucius  Quintius  Lamar  and  James  G.  P.laine,  and  if  the 
story  of  defamation  and  calumny  and  scandalization  and  diatribe  and  scurrility  and  lampoon 
and  billingsgate  and  damnable  perfidy  be  accurately  recorded,  tell   me  in  what  respects  our 
political  arena  and  the  howling  and  blaspheming  galleries  that  again  and  again  look  down 
upon  it  are  better  than  the  Roman  Colosseum.     When  I  read  that  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  had  appropriately  adjourned  to  pay  honors  to  two  of  the  distinguished 
men  mentioned,  and  American  journalism.  North,  South,  East  and  West,  went  into  lamen- 
tations over  their  departure  and  said  all  complimentar>-  things  in  regard  to  them,  I  asked, 
When  did  the  nation  lie  about  these  men  ?     Was  it  when,  during  their  life,  it  gave  them 
malediction,  or  now,  since  their  death,  when  bestowing  upon  them  beatification.     The  same 
spirit  of  cruelty  that  you  deplore  in  the  Roman  Colosseum  is  seen  in  the  sharp  appetite  the 
world  seems  to   have   for  the  downfall  of   good  men,  and  in  the  divorce  of  those  whose 
marital   life  was   thought   accordant,  and   in    the   absconding  of  a   bank  cashier.      Oh,  the 
world  wants  more  of  the  spirit 
of  "  Let-him-up,"  and  less  of  the 
spirit     of      "Thumbs-down." 
There  are  hundreds  of  men   in 
the    prisons    of    America    who 
ought  to  be  discharged,  because 
they    were    the    victims   of  cir- 
cumstances   or     have    suffered 
enough.     There  are  in  all  pro- 
fessions   and   occupations,  men 
who  are    domineered    over    by 
others  and   whose  whole   life  is 
a  struggle  with  monstrous  oppo- 
sition,  and  circumstances  have 
their  heel  upon  the  throbbing 
and  broken  hearts.     For  God's 
sake,  let  them  up  !     Away  with 
the  spirit  of  "  Tlunnbs-down  !  " 
What  the  world  wants  is  a  thou- 
sand men  like  Telemachus  to  leap  out  of  the  gallery  into  the  arena,  whether  he  be  a  Roman 
Catholic  monk  or  a  Methodist  steward,  or  a  Presbyterian  elder,  and  go  in  between  the  con- 
testants.    "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

One  half  the  world  is  down  and  the  other  half  is  up,  and  the  half  that  is  up  has  its 
heel  on  the  half  that  is  down.  If  you,  as  a  boss  workman,  or  as  a  contractor,  or  as  a  bishop, 
or  as  a  state  or  national  official,  or  as  a  potent  factor  in  social  life,  or  in  any  way,  are  oppress- 
ing anyone,  know  that  the  same  devil  that  possessed  the  Roman  Colosseum  oppresses  you. 
The  Diocletians  are  not  all  dead.  The  cellars  leading  into  the  arena  of  life's  struggle  are 
not  all  emptied  of  their  tigers.  The  vivisection  by  young  doctors  of  dogs  and  cats  and 
"birds  most  of  the  time  adds  nothing  to  human  discover}',  but  is  only  a  continuation  of 
A'espasian's  Colosseum.  The  cruelties  of  the  world  generally  begin  in  nurseries  and  in 
home  circles  and  in  day  .schools.  The  child  that  transfixes  a  fly  with  a  pin,  or  the  low 
feeling  that  sets  two  dogs  into  combat,  or  that  bullies  a  weak  or  crippled  playmate,  or  the 
indifference  that  starves  a  canary  bird,  needs  only  to  be  developed  in  order  to  make  a  first- 
cla.ss  Nero  or  a  full-armed  Apollyon.      It  would  be  a  good  sentence  to  be  written  on  the  top 


;  I :  X I-;  k  a  y.  \'  1 1-;  u 


394 


IHb:   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


line  of  a  child's  copy  book,  and  a  fit  inscription  to  be  embroidered  in  the  arm-chair  of  the 
sitting-room,  and  an  appropriate  motto  for  jndge  and  jury  and  district-attornev  and  sheriff 
to  look  at  in  the  court  house:  "  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  niercv." 

And  so  the  ruins  of  that  Colosseum  speak  to  me.  Indeed  the  most  impressive  things 
on  earth  are  ruins.  The  four  greatest  structures  ever  built  are  in  ruins.  The  Parthenon  in 
ruins.  The  Temple  of  Diana  in  ruins.  The  Temple  of  Jerusalem  in  ruins.  The  Colos- 
seum in  ruins.  Indeed  the  earth  itself  will  yet  be  a  pile  of  ruins,  the  mountains  in  rnin.s, 
the  seas  in  ruins,  the  cities  in  ruins,  the  hemispheres  in  ruins.  Yea,  further  than  that,  all 
up  and  down  the  heavens  are  worlds  burned   up,  worlds  wrecked,  worlds  e.vtinct,  worlds 


1 
I    I 

1 


I  I 


^^M 


EXC.WATION.S    Ol'    Till.    lllKTM,    ROlIIi. 

The  Forum  at  Rome  was  originally  a  market-place,  paved  with  stone  and  surrounded  by  streets  and  houses  until  472  B.  C,  when 
it  became  the  place  of  assembly  of  the  Comitia  Tribula,  where  the  people  were  convened  by  a  magistrate  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
all  public  questions  to  vote.    Recent  excavation.s  of  the  Forum  and  its  present  appearance  are  illustrated  above 

abandoned.  Worlds  on  worlds  in  ruins  !  But  I  am  glad  to  sa\-  it  is  the  same  old  Heaven, 
and  in  all  that  world  there  is  not  one  ruin  and  never  will  be  a  ruin.  Not  one  of  tlie  pearly 
gates  will  ever  become  unhinged.  Not  one  of  the  amethystine  towers  will  ever  fall.  Not 
one  of  the  mansions  will  ever  decay.  Not  one  of  the  chariots  will  ever  be  unwheeled. 
Not  one  of  the  thrones  will  ever  rock  down. 

The  last  evening  before  leaving  Rome  I  went  alone  to  the  Colosseum.  There  was  not 
a  living  soul  in  all  the  immense  area.  Even  those  accustomed  to  sell  curios  at  the  four 
entrances  of  the  building  had  gone  away.  The  place  was  so  overwhelmingly  silent,  I  could 
hear  my  own  heart  beat  with  the  emotions  arou.sed  b\-  the  place  and  hour.  I  paced  the 
arena.     I  walked  down  into  the  dens  where  the  hyenas  were  once  kept.     I  ascended  to  the 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


S9t 


place  where  tlie  Emperor  used  to  sit.     I  climbed  up  on  the  galleries  from  which  the  mighty 
throngs  of  people  had  gazed  in   enchantment.      To   break  the  .silence,    I    shouted,  and  that 
seemed  to  awaken  the  echoes,  echo   upon   echo.      And   tiiose   awakened  echoes  seemed  to 
address  me,  saying :  "  Men  die  but  their  work  lives  on.      Ciaudentius,   the  architect  who 
planned  this  structure,  the  sixty  thousand  enslaved  Jews  brought  b>-  Titus   from  Jerusalem 
and  who  toiled  on  these  walls,  the  gladiators  who   fought   in  tiiis  arena,  the  emperors  and 
empresses  who  had  place  on  yonder  platform,  the  millions  wlio,  during  centuries,  sat  and 
rose  in  these  galleries,  have  passed  away,  but  enough  of  the  Colosseum  stands   to   tell  tlie 
story  of  cruelty  and   pomp  and   power.     Five  hundred  years  of  bloodshed."     Then,  as  I 
stood    there,   there  came  to    me 
another  burst  of   echoes,  which 
seemed     throbbing     with     the 
prayers  and  songs  and  groans  of 
Christians  who   had   expired  in 
that  arena,  and  they  seemed   to 
say :  "  How  much  it  cost  to  serve 
God  in  ages  past,  and  how  thank- 
ful  modern   centuries    ought    to 
be    that   the    persecution   which 
reddened  the  sands  of  this  amphi- 
theatre   have    been    abolished." 
And     then     I     questioned     the 
echoes,  saying  :  "  Where  is  Em- 
peror   Titus    who     .sat     here  ? " 
The   answer    came :     "  Gone    to 
judgment."       "Where    is     Em- 
peror   Trajan    who    sat    here?" 
"  Gone  to  judgment."     "  Where 
is  Emperor  Maximinus  who  .sat 
here?"     "Gone    to  judgment." 
"  Where  are  all  the  multitudes 
who  clapped    and    shouted    and 
waved    flags     to     let     the    van- 
quished   up,    or    to    have    them 
slain,  put  thumbs  down  ?  "     The 
echoes  answered :  "  Gone  to  judg- 
ment." Unquired:  "  All?"  And 
they  answered :  "  All."  And  I  looked   up  to  the  sky  above  the  ruins,  and  it    was    full   of 
clouds  scurrying  swiftly  past,  and  those  clouds  seemed  as  though  they  had  faces,  and  some 
of  the  faces  smiled  and  some  of  them  frowned,  and  they  seemed  to  have  wings,  and  some 
of  the  wings  were  moon-gilt  and  the  others  thunder-charged,  and  the  voices  of  those  clouds 
overpowered  the  echoes  beneath  :  "  Behold,  He  cometh  with  clouds  and  every  eye  shall  see 
Him."    And  as  I  stood  looking  up  along  the  walls  of  the  Colosseum,  they  rose  higher  and 
higher,  higher  and  higher,  until  the  amphitheatre  seemed  to  be  filled  with  all  the  nations  of 
the  past  and  all  the  nations  of  the  present  and  all  the  nations  of  the  future,  those  who  went 
down  under  the  paws  of  wild  beasts,  and  those  who  sat  waving  flags  to  let  up  the  conquered, 
and  those  who  held  thumbs  down  to  conimaud  their  assassination,  and  small  and  great,  and 


THi;    VATICAN,     KUME, 


396 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


emperor  and  slave,  and  pastor  and  people,  and  righteous  and  wicked,  the  amphitheatre 
seeming  to  rise  to  infinite  heights  on  all  sides  of  me,  and  in  the  centre  of  that  amphitheatre, 
instead  of  the  arena  of  combatants,  a  great  throne  stood,  rising  higher  and  higher,  higher 
and  higher,  and  on  it  sat  tlie  Christ  for  whom  the  martyrs  died  and  against  whom  the 
Diocletians  plotted  their  persecutions,  and  waving  one  hand  toward  the  piled  up  splendors 
to  the  right  of  Him,  He  cried:  "Come,  ye  blessed,"  and  waving  the  other  hand  toward 
the  piled  up  glooms  on  the  left  of  Him,  He  cried:  "Depart,  ye  cursed."  And  so  the 
Colosseum  of  Rome  that  evening  of  m\'  journey  seemed  enlarged  into  the  amphitheatre  of 
the  Last  Judgment,  and  I  passed  from  under  the  arch  of  that  mighty  structure,  mighty  e\-en 
in  its  ruins,  praying  to  Almighty  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  for  mercy  in  that  day  for 
which  all  other  days  were  made,  and  that  as  I  expected  mercy  from  God,  I  might  exercise 
mercy  toward  others,  and  have  more  and  more  of  the  spirit  of  "Let-him-up  "  and  less  and 
less  of  the  spirit  of  "Thumbs-down." 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 


MY  RECEPTION   IN  THE  RUSSIAN   PALACE 


OHERE  is  no  country  on  earth  so  misunderstood  as  Russia,  and  no  monarch 
more  misrepresented  than  its  Emperor.  Will  it  not  be  in  the  cause  of  justice 
if  I  try  to  set  right  the  minds  of  those  to  whom,  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean, 
these  words  shall  come?  If  the  slander  of  one  jjerson  is  wicked,  then  the 
slander  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  million  people  is  one  hundred  and  twelve  million  times 
more  wicked.  In  the  name  of  righteousness  and  in  behalf  of  civilization,  and  for  the 
encouragement  of  all  tliose  good  people  who  have  been  disheartened  by  the  scandalization  of 
Russia,  I  now  write.  But  Russia  is  so  vast  a  subject  that  to  treat  it  in  one  chapter  is  like 
attempting  to  run  Niagara  Falls  over  one  mill  wheel.     Do  not  think  that  the  ver\'  marked 


hou.se  of  the  ROMANDEFS,   mosciiw. 

courtesies  extended  me  by  the  Emperor  and  Empress  and  Crown  Prince  of  Ru.ssia  have 
complimented  me  into  the  advocacy  of  that  empire,  for  I  shall  present  you  authenticated 
facts  that  will  reverse  your  opinions,  if  the\'  have  been  antagonistic,  as  mine  were  revensed. 
I  went  to  Russia  with  as  many  baleful  prejudices  as  would  make  an  avalanche  from  the 
mountain  of  fabrication  which  has  for  years  been  heaped  up  against  that  empire.  You  ask 
how  is  it  possible  that  such  appalling  misrepresentations  of  Russia  could  stand  ?  I  account 
for  it   by  the  fact   that  the  Russian  language  is  to  most  an  impassable  wall.      Malign  the 

(397) 


398 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


United  States  or  inaligu  Great  Britain  or  Cierniany  or  France,  and  by  the  next  cablegram 
the  falseliood  is  exposed,  for  we  all  nnderstand  English,  and  many  of  our  people  are  familiar 
with  (ierman  and  French.  Bnt  the  Russian  language,  beautiful  and  easy  to  those  born  to 
speak  it,  is  to  most  vocal  organs  an  unpronounceable  tongue,  and  if  at  St.  Petersburg  or 
Moscow  any  anti-Russian  calumny  were  denied,  the  most  of  the  world  outside  of  Ru.ssia 

would  never  see  or  hear  the 
denial. 

What  are  the  motives 
for  misrepresentation  ?  Com- 
mercial interests  and  interna- 
tional jealousy.  Russia  is  as 
large  as  all  the  rest  of  Europe 
put  together.  Remember  that 
a  nation  is  only  a  man  or  a 
woman  on  a  big  scale.  Go 
into  any  neighborhood  of 
America  and  ask  the  physi- 
cian who  has  a  small  practice 
what  he  thinks  of  the  physi- 
cian who  has  a  large  practice. 
Ask  a  lawyer  who  has  no 
briefs  what  he  thinks  of  the 
lawyer  who  has  three  rooms 
filled  with  clerks  trying  in 
vain  to  transact  the  super- 
abundant business  that  comes 
to  him.  Ask  the  minister  who 
has  a  very  limited  atidience 
what  he  thinks  of  the  min- 
ister who  has  overflowing 
audiences.  Why  does  not 
Europe  like  Russia  ?  Because 
she  has  enough  acreage  to 
swallow  all  Europe  and  feel 
she  had  only  half  a  meal. 
Ru.ssia  is  as  long  as  North 
and  South  America  put  to- 
gether. There  are  two  Euro- 
pean journals  that  I  know 
of  which  keep  two  men  on 
salaries  to  catch  up  every- 
thing unfortunate  in  Russia  and  exaggerate  it,  or  if  there  be  nothing  unfortunate  then  to 
manufacture  falsehoods  concerning  that  empire. 

I  stood  in  London  one  summer  with  tickets  in  my  pocket  for  St.  Petersburg.  It 
was  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  I  was  to  take  the  train  at  three.  An  American  physi- 
cian came  in  and  said,  "  You  certainly  do  not  think  of  going  to  St.  Petersburg?"  I  said, 
"Why  not  ?"     He  replied,  "  Have  you  not  .seen  the  morning  newspaper  with  an  account  of 


I.Ol'IS    KI.OPSCH.    PR0I'KII;T()R    111  IHK   kllKl^l   I    \\    HHkAI.D,"    MY 

TRAVELING  COMPANION  IN   RUSSI.'i 


THE   WORLD  AS   vSEEN   TO-DAY. 


399 


the  cholera  in  St.  Petersburg  ?"  Then  turning  to  a  newspaper  I  found  the  report  that  there 
were  two  thousand  five  hundred  cases  of  cholera  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  city  divided  in  hos- 
pital districts,  the  population  flying  in  terror.  And  it  was  almost  as  bad  in  Moscow.  I  halted 
for  four  da\  s,  but  then  receiving  an  encouraging  telegram  I  started  for  St.  Petersburg. 
There  was  not  a  single  case  of  cholera  in  St.  Petersburg  or  Moscow,  and  was  not  a  case 
until  a  month  after  I  left  there.  But  the  falsehood  concerning  cholera  had  done  its  com- 
mercial errand.  .\11  the  summer 
tourists  who  intended  visiting- 
Russia  turned  back,  and  went 
elsewhere.  The  hotel  in  St. 
Petersburg  where  I  stopped  had 
received  orders  engaging  every 
room  and  every  mattress  by  in- 
tended visitors.  But  the  report 
concerning  cholera  led  to  the  can- 
cellation of  those  engagements, 
and  in  the  great  hotel  capable 
of  entertaining  hundreds  of  guests 
I  would  think  there  were  about 
twenty.  And  so  all  over  north- 
ern Russia  the  damage  was  done. 
After  returning  to  America  I  saw 
in  two  evening  papers  something 
like  the  following  in  big  letters  : 
Attempted  As.sassination  of  the 
Imperial  Family  of  Russia.  Yes- 
terdav  the  imperial  train  was 
uearing  Warsaw.  Dynamite  was 
put  between  the  tracks,  but  as  the 
imperial  train  was  belated,  an 
ordinary  train  took  the  track,  and 
it  was  blown  up,  five  people  killed 
and  fourteen  wounded.  The  Em- 
peror and  his  family  coming  up 
after  a  while  saw  their  narrow 
escape,  and  were  in  great  excite- 
ment.' When  I  read  this  in  an 
evening  paper  I  laughed  aloud 
and  said  to  those  in  the  room, 
"  Not  a  word  of  truth  in  it."  The 
next  morning  only  one  paper  re- 
ferred to  the  evil  report  and  that 
paper  said  that  the  report  the  evening  before  from  Russia  was  not  true.  The  only  mistake 
about  it  was  that  the  imperial  family  were  at  home  at  Peterhof.  There  was  no  imperial  train 
out.  Nobody  was  killed,  no  one  was  hurt,  and  no  dynamite  had  been  used,  and  nothing  at  all 
had  happened.  A  few  days  ago  it  came  by  cablegram  and  was  published  throughout  America 
that  a    Russian    woman    had  eaten  a    whole    child  at    one    meal.     The  woman    was  not 


IMPERIAL   FAMILY   AS    I    SAW    THEM. 


400 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


especially  hungry,  nor  straitened  in  circumstances.  But  to  show  the  barbarism  of  the 
Russians  this  story  was  cabled  concerning  the  achie\ement  of  this  woman  in  eating  a  child 
at  one  meal,  and  I  suppose  there  were  hundreds  of  tliousands  of  people  fools  enough  to 
believe  it.  A  recent  story  filling  many  columns  of  newspapers  concerning  cases  of  cruelties 
in  Russia  said  to  have  recently  occurred,  was  printed  originally  forty  years  ago,  and  was  th.en 
dramatized,  but  the  fellow  who  revived  it  now  no  doubt  was  well  paid  for  its  reproduction. 
"But,"  says  some  one,  "do  you   mean  to  charge  the  authors  and  the  lecturers  who  have 

written  and  spoken  against  Russia 
witli  falsehood  ?"  By  no  means. 
Von  can  find  in  an\'  city  or  nation 
evils  innumerable  if  you  wish  to 
discourse  about  them.  I  said  at  St. 
Petersburg  to  the  most  eminent  lady 
of  Russia  outside  of  the  imperial 
family:  "Are  those  stories  of  cruelty 
and  outrage  that  I  have  heard  and 
read  about,  true  ?"  vShe  replied, 
"  No  doubt  some  of  them  are  true, 
but  do  you  not  in  America  e\er  have 
officers  of  the  law  cruel  and  out- 
rageous in  their  treatment  of  offend- 
ers ?  Do  you  not  have  instances 
where  the  police  have  clubbed 
innocent  persons?  Have  you  no 
instances  where  people  in  brief  au- 
thority act  arroganth"  ?"  I  rejjlied, 
"  Ves,  we  do."  Then  she  said, 
"  Whv  does  the  world  hold  our  gov- 
ernment responsible  for  exceptional 
outrages  ?  As  soon  as  an  official  is 
found  to  be  cruel,  he  immediately 
loses  his  place."  Then  I  bethought 
nnself :  Do  the  people  in  America 
hold  the  government  at  Washington 
responsible  for  the  Homestead  riots 
at  Pittsburg,  or  for  railroad  insurrec- 
tions, or  for  tlie  torch  of  the  villain 
that  consumes  a  block  of  houses,  or 
for  the  ruffians  who  arrest  a  rail 
train,  making  the  passengers  hold 
up  their  arms  until  the  pockets  are  picked  ?  Why,  then,  hold  the  E^mperor  of  Russia,  who 
is  as  impressive  and  genial  a  man  as  I  have  ever  looked  at  or  talked  with,  responsible  for  the 
wrongs  enacted  in  a  nation  with  a  population  twice  as  large  in  numbers  as  the  millions  ot 
America  !  Suppose  one  monarch  in  Europe  ruled  over  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  France, 
Germany,  Spain,  Italy,  Austria,  Norway  and  Sweden.  Would  it  be  fair  to  hold  the  monarch 
responsible  for  all  that  occurred  in  that  mightv  dominion  ?  Now,  you  must  remember 
that  Alexander  the  Third  reigns  over  wider  dominion  than  all   those  empires  put  together. 


I>u\VAGKR    i;MPRy:SS   OF    RUSSIA    AND    HF.R    riAUGUTF.R 


Moij 


402 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


As  a  nation  is  only  a  man  or  a  woman  on  a  big  scale,  let  me  ask,  would  you  individu- 
ally prefer  to  be  judged  by  your  faults  or  your  virtues  ?  All  people,  except  ourselves,  have 
faults.  The  pessimist  attempting  to  write  your  biography  would  take  }ou  in  your  weaker 
moods,  and  the  picture  of  you  on  the  first  page  of  your  biography  would  be  as  }ou  looked 
after  some  meanness  had  been  practiced  on  you  and  you  were  tearing  mad.  Now,  as  I  am 
an  optimist,  I  give  you  fair  warning  that  if  I  ever  write  your  biography,  I  will  take  you  as 

you  looked  the  day  your  dividends 
came  in  twenty  per  cent  larger 
than  you  ever  anticipated,  or  the 
morning  on  your  way  to  business 
after  }our  first  child  was  born,  or  the 
morning  after  your  conversion  when 
heaven  had  rolled  in  on  your  soul. 
The  most  accursed  homunculi  of  all 
the  earth  are  the  pessimists,  who, 
whether  they  judge  individual  or 
national  character,  and  whether  the\' 
wield  tongue  or  pen,  are  filled  with 
anathematization,  and  who  have 
more  to  say  about  the  freckles  on 
the  cheeks  of  beauty  than  of  the 
sunrises  and  sunsets  that  flush  it. 
I  would  like  to  read  the  funeral 
service  over  the  last  pessimist,  but 
I  would  omit  that  part  which  makes 
reference  to  a  Resurrection  as  be- 
ing entirelv   irrelevant. 

It  is  most  important  that  this 
country  have  right  ideas  concerning 
Russia,  for,  among  all  the  nations 
this  side  of  heaven,  Russia  is 
America's  be.^t  friend.  There  has 
not  been  an  hoiu'  in  the  last 
se\-enty-five  years  that  the  ship- 
wreck of  free  institutions  in  Amer- 
ica would  not  have  called  forth  from 
all  the  despotisms  of  Europe  and 
Asia  a  shoxit  of  gladness  wide  as 
earth  and  deep  as  perdition.  But 
PREFECT  OP  ST.  PETERSBURG.  wliocvcr  clsc  failed  us,  Russia  never 

did,  and  whoever  else  was  doubtful, 
Russia  never  was.  Russia,  then  an  old  government,  smiled  on  the  cradle  of  our  govern- 
ment while  \et  in  its  earliest  infanc\'.  Empress  Catherine  of  Ru.ssia  in  1776  or 
thereabouts  offered  kindly  interference  that  our  thirteen  colonies  might  not  go  down 
under  the  cruelties  of  war.  .^gain,  in  1813,  Russia  stretched  forth  toward  us  a  merciful 
hand.  When  our  dreadful  Civil  War  was  raging  and  the  two  thunder  clouds  of  Northern 
and  Southern  valor  clashed,  Russia  practicalh-  .said  to  the  nations  of  Europe  :   "  Keep  your 


THE   WORLD   AvS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


403 


hands  off  and  let  the  bra\e  men  of  tlie  North  and  South  settle  their  own  troubles."  I 
rehearsed  some  of  those  scenes  to  the  Emperor  last  July,  saying  :  "  You  were  probably  too 
young  to  reuiember  the  position  your  father  took  at  that  time,"  but  with  radiant  smile  he 
responded:  "Oh,  yes,  I  remember,  I  remember,"  and  there  was  an  accentuation  of  the 
words  which  demonstrated  to  me  that  these  occurrences  had  often  beeu  talked  of  in  the 
imperial  household.  I  stood  on  the  New  York  Battery,  during  the  war,  as  I  suppose  man\' 
of  m\-  readers  did,  looking  off  through  a  magnifying  glass   upon   a  fleet  of  Russian   ships. 


ARCH    OF   TRIUMPH,    MOSCOW. 


"  What  are  they  doing  there?  "  I  asked,  and  so  everyone  asked:  "What  business  has  the 
Russian  warships  in  our  New  York  Harbor?"  Word  came  that  another  fleet  of  Russian 
ships  was  in  San  Francisco  Harbor.  "  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  our  rulers  asked,  but  did 
not  get  immediate  answer.  In  these  two  American  harbors,  the  Russian  fleets  seemed  sound 
asleep.  Their  great  mouths  of  iron  spoke  not  a  word,  and  the  Russian  flag,  whether  floating 
in  the  air  or  drooping  by  the  flagstaff,  made  no  answer  to  our  inquisitiveness.  William  H. 
Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  asked  the  Rus.sian  Minister  at  Washington,  the  meaning  of  those 
Russian  ships  in  American  waters,  and  got  no  satisfactory  response.      Admiral  Farragut  said 


404 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


to  a  Russian  officer  after  dining  in  the  home  of  tlie  eminent  politician  Thnrlow  Weed  that 
maker  and  unmaker  of  Presidents:  "  What  are  you  doing  here  with  those  Russian  vessels  of 
war?  "  Not  until  the  war  was  over  was  it  found  out  that  in  case  of  foreign  intervention  all 
the  guns  and  the  last  gun  of  these  two  fleets  in  New  York  and  San  Francisco  harbors  were 
to  open  in  full  diapason  upon  au}'  foreign  ship  that  sliould  dare  to  interfere  with  the  right 
of  Americans,  North  and  South,  to  settle  their  own  controversy.  But  for  the  fleets  and 
their  presence  in  American  waters,  there  can  be  no  doubt  tliat  two  of  the  mightiest  nations 
of  Europe  would  have  mingled  in  our  fight.  But  for  those  two  fleets,  the  American  govern- 
ment would  liave  been  to-day  only  a  name  in  history.  I  declare  before  God  and  the  nation 
that  I  believe  Russia  saved  the  United  States  of  America.     Last  July  I  stood  before  a  great 


DR.    TAI.JIAGTC    LEAVING   THE    CITV    IFAI.T.,  ST.   rETHR-SnURC. 

throng  of  Russians  in  the  embarrassing  position  of  speaking  to  an  audience  three-fourths 
of  which  could  not  understand  my  language  any  more  than  I  could  understand  tlieiis.  But 
there  were  two  names  that  they  thoroughh-  understood  as  well  as  you  understand  tliem,  and 
the  utterance  of  these  two  names  brought  forth  an  acclamation  that  made  the  Cit>-  Hall  of 
St.  Petersburg  quake  from  foundation  stone  to  tower,  and  those  two  names  were  "  George 
Washington  "  and  "  Abraham  Lincoln."  Now,  is  it  not  important  that  we  should  feel  right 
toward  that  mighty  and  God-given  friend  of  more  than  one  hundred  years?  Yea,  because 
it  is  a  nation  of  more  possibilities  than  any  other,  except  our  own,  should  we  cultivate  its 
friendship.  There  is  a  vast  reahn  of  friendship  as  yet  unoccupied.  If  the  population  of 
the  rest  of  Europe  were  poured  into  Russia,  it  would  be    only  partially  occupied.     After  a 


RUSSIAN    MILITARY   TYPES. 


(405) 


4o6 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


while,  America  will  be  so  well  populated  that  the  tides  of  eiuigratioii  will  go  the  other  way, 
and  by  railroads  from  Russia  at  Behriug  Straits — where  Asia  comes  within  thirty-six  miles 
of  joining  America — millions  of  people  will  pour  down  through  Russia  and  Siberia,  and  on 
dowm  through  all  the  regions  waiting  for  the  civilization  of  the  next  century  to  come  and 
culture  great  harvests  and  build  mighty  cities.  What  the  United  States  now  are  on  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  Russia  will  be  on  the  Eastern  Hemisphere.  Not  only  because  of 
what  Russia  has  been  to  our  Republic  but  because  of  what  she  will  be,  let  us  cease  the 
defamation  of  all  that  pertains  to  that  great  empire.  If  Russia  can  afford  to  be  the  friend 
of  America,  America  can  afford  to  be  the  friend  of  Russia.  And  now  I  proceed  to  what  I 
told  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  and  all  the  imperial  family  at  the  Palace  of  Peterhof  I 
would  do  if  I  ever  got  back  to  America,  and  that  is  to  answer  some  of  the  calumnies  which 
have  been  announced  and  reiterated  and  stereot\ped  against  Russia. 

Calumny  the  first  :  The  Emperor  and  all   the  imperial    family  are   in  perpetual  dread 
of  assassination.      They  are  practicalh'  prisoners   in    the    Winter  Palace,  and  trenches  with 

dynamite  have 
been  found  dug 
around  the  Win- 
ter Palace.  They 
dare  not  venture 
forth,  except  pre- 
ceded and  fol- 
lowed and  sur- 
rounded bv  a 
most  elaborate 
military  guard. 
j\i\'  answer  to 
this  is  that  I 
never  saw  a  face 
move  free  from 
worriment  than 
the  Emperor's 
face.  The  W' inter 
Palace,  around 
which  the  tren- 
ches are  said 
to  h  a  V  e  bee  n 
charged  with  dynamite  and  in  which  the  imperial  familv  are  said  to  be  prisoners,  has  never 
been  the  residence  of  the  imperial  familv  one  moment  since  the  present  Emperor  has  been 
on  the  throne.  That  Winter  Palace  has  been  changed  into  a  museum  and  a  picture  gallerv 
and  a  place  of  great  levees.  He  spends  his  summer  in  the  Palace  at  Peterhof,  ten  miles 
from  St.  Petersburg ;  his  aiitumns  at  the  palace  at  Gatschina,  and  his  winters  in  the  Palace  at 
St.  Petersburg,  but  in  quite  a  different  part  of  the  city  to  that  occupied  by  the  Winter 
Palace.  He  rides  through  the  streets  unattended,  except  by  the  Empress  at  his  side  and  the 
driver  on  the  box.  Not  one  of  my  readers  is  more  free  from  fear  of  harm  than  he  is.  His 
subjects  not  only  admire  him  but  almost  worship  him.  There  are  cranks  in  Russia,  but 
have  we  not  had  our  Charles  Guiteau  and  John  Wilkes  Booth?  "But,"  says  some  one, 
"did  not  the  Russians  kill  the  father  of  Alexander  III.?"    Yes,  but  in  the  time  that  Russia 


I'liKTKKSS    OK    STS-    PETER    ANl^ 


I'l-TI'Hsl: 


THE   WORLD    AS   vSEEN    TO-DAY. 


407 


has  had  one  assassination  of  Emperor,  America  lias  had  two  Presidents  assassinated.  "  But  is 
not  the  Emperor  an  autocrat?"  By  wliich  yon  mean,  has  he  not  power  without  restriction? 
Yes,  but  it  all  depends  upon  what  use  a  man  makes  of  his  power. 

Are  you  an  autocrat  in  your  factor}-,  or  an  autocrat  in  your  store,  or  an  autocrat  in  your 
style  of  business?  It  all  depends  on  what  use  you  make  of  your  power,  whether  to  bless  or 
to  oppress,  and  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great — that  Russian  who  was  the  wonder  of  all 
time,  the  Emperor  who  became  incognito  a  ship  carpenter  that  he  might  help  ship  carpen- 
ters, and  a  mechanic  that  he  might  help  mechanics,  and  put  on  poor  men's  garb  that  he 
might  sympathize  with  poor  men,  and  who  in  his  last  words  said  :  "  My  Lord,  I  am  dying. 
Oh,  help  my  unbelief."  I  say  from  that  time  the  throne  of  Russia  has,  for  the  most  part, 
been  occupied  b>-  rulers  as  beneficent  and  kind  and 
sympathetic  as  they  were  powerful.  To  go  no 
further  back  than  Nicholas,  the  great-grandfather 
of  the  present  Emperor  :  Nicholas  had  for  the  dom- 
inant idea  of  his  administration  the  emancipation 
of  the  serfs.  When  it  was  found  that  he  premedi- 
tated the  freedom  of  the  serfs,  he  received  the 
following  letter  of  threat  from  a  deputation  of 
noblemen:  "Your  Imperial  ^Majesty :  We  learn 
that  the  Council  and   Senate  of  the   Empire   have 


PfBI.IC    MrSEt'M,    MOSCOW. 


before  them  for  deliberation,  with  your  sanction,  the  plan  to  abolish  serfdom  throughout 
the  Russian  Empire.  We  are  perfectly  willing  to  abide  by  your  Majesty's  decision 
in  this  matter,  and  to  loyally  support  your  will,  but  there  are  in  Russia  a  large  number 
of  small  owners  of  serfs,  who  are  dependent  for  actual  subsistence  on  the  labor  of  those 
serfs  and  who  conseqtienth-  will  be  left  wholly  penniless  and  without  any  resource  by 
the  operation  of  emancipation.  They  will  then  undoubtedly  resort  to  desperate  measures, 
and  in  the  extremity  of  their  despair,  will  put  the  life  of  your  Majesty  in  jeopardy." 
The  Emperor  replied  in  words  that  will  last  as  long  as  history:  "Gentlemen,  if  I 
shotild  die  because  of  my  devotion  to  such  a  cause,  I  am  willing  to  meet  mv  fate." 
When,  under  an  attack  of  pneumonia  Irom  exposure  in  severe  weather  in  the  service  of  his- 


4o8 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


people,  that  Emperor  pxit  down  his  head  on  the  pillow  of  dust,  although  he  had  not 
achieved  the  favorite  idea  of  his  reign,  Russia  lost  as  good  a  monarch  as  ever  was  crowned. 
Then  came  Alexander  the  Second,  the  father  of  the  present  Emperor.  Amid  the  mightiest 
opposition,  and  innumerable  protests,  he  with  one  stroke  of  his  pen,  emancipated  twenty 
million  serfs,  practically  saying,  "Go  free.  Be  your  own  masters,  and  this  is  for  you  and 
your  children  forever."     What  a  marvelous  character  of  kindness  was  Alexander  the  Second, 

the  father  of  the  present 
Emperor,  so  that  the  pres- 
ent Emperor,  Alexander  the 
Third,  inherits  his  benig- 
nit}'.  x\lexander  the  Second 
liearing  that  a  nobleman 
had  formed  a  conspiracy 
against  his  life,  had  him 
arrested.  Then  the  eyes  of 
the  criminal  were  bandaged, 
and  he  was  put  inacarringe, 
and  for  some  time  traveled 
on,  only  stopping  for  food. 
After  a  while  the  bandage 
was  removed,  and  supposing 
that  he  must  by  that  time 
be  almost  in  Siberia,  found 
that  he  was  at  the  door  of 
his  own  home.  But  this 
punishment  was  sufficient. 
The  same  Emperor  having 
heard  that  a  poet  had  written 
a  poem  defamatory  of  his 
Empress,  ordered  the  poet 
into  his  presence.  Expect- 
ing great  severity,  the  poet 
entered  the  palace,  and  found 
the  Emperor  and  Empress 
niul  others  together.  "  Good 
morning,"  said  the  Emperor 
to  tlie  offender.  "  I  hear 
\ou  have  written  a  most 
beautiful  poem,  and  I  have 
sent  for  you  that  }ou  may 
read  it  to  us  and  we  may 
have  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
it."  The  man  cried  out : 
"Send  me  to  Siberia  or  do  anything  with  me,  but  do  not  make  me  read  this  poem 
in  vour  presence."  He  was  compelled  to  read  the  defamatory  poem,  and  then  the  Empress, 
ao-ainst  whom  it  was  aimed,  said:  "I  do  not  think  he  will  write  anv  more  verses 
about  us  again.      Let  liim  go."      And  so  he  was  freed.      And   now  conies   in    Alexander  the 


THE   WAV    I   WAS    RKCKIVED    AT   ST.   I-HTEUSBURG 


(4^9) 


4IO 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


Third,  doing  the  best  things  possible  for  tlie  nation  which  he  loved  and  which  as  ardently 
loved  him.  But  what  an  undertaking  to  rule  one  hundred  and  twelve  million  people, 
made  up  of  one  hundred  tribes  and  races  and  speaking  forty  different  languages.  But,  not- 
withstanding all  this,  things  there  move  on  marvelonsly  well,  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
out  of  five  hundred  thousand  Russians  you  would  find  more  than  one  person  that  dislikes 
the  Emperor,  and  so  that  calumny  of  dread  of  assassination  drops  so  flat  it  can  fall  no 
flatter. 

Calumny  the  second  :  If  you  go  to  Russia,  you  are  under  severest  espionage,  stopped 
here  and  questioned  there,  and   in   danger  of  arrest.      But   m\'  opinion   is  that   if  a   man  is 


CONVOY   OF   CONDEMNED,   RTSSIA. 

disturbed  in  Russia  it  is  because  he  ought  to  be  disturbed.  Russia  is  the  only  country  in 
Europe  in  which  my  baggage  was  not  examined.  I  carried  in  my  hand,  tied  together  with 
a  cord  so  that  their  titles  could  be  seen,  a  pile  of  eight  or  ten  books,  all  of  them  from  lid 
to  lid  cursing  Russia,  but  I  had  no  trouble  in  taking  with  me  the  books.  There  is  ten 
times  more  difficult\-  in  getting  your  baggage  through  the  American  Custom  House  than 
through  the  Russian.     I  speak   not  for  nn'self,  for  friends  intercede  for  me  on  American 


IIV    KIXKI'TIDX    AND    INTI;k\-II-\V   WITH    THE   CZAR   OF   RUSSIA,    ALEXANDER 


ni.  (411, 


4i: 


THE   EARTH    CxIRDLED. 


wharves,  and  I  am  not  detained.  Depend  upon  it  if  hereafter  a  man  believes  he  is  uncom- 
fortably watched  by  the  police  of  St.  Petersburg  or  Moscow,  it  is  because  there  is  something 
suspicious  about  him,  and  you  yourself  had  better,  when  he  is  around,  look  after  your  silver 
spoons.  I  promise  you,  an  honest  man  or  an  honest  woman,  that  when  you  go  there  as 
many  of  you  will,  for  European  travel  is  destined  to  change  its  course  from  Southern 
Europe  to  those  Northern  regions,  you  will  have  no  more  molestation  or  supervisal  than  in 
Brookhn  or  in  New  York  or  the  cjuietest  Long  Island  village. 

Calumny  the  third  :  Russia  and  its  ruler  are  so  opposed  to  any  other  religion  e.\cept 
the  Greek  religion,  that  they  will  not  allow  an>-  other  religion,  that  nothing  but  persecution 
and  imprisonment  and  outrage  intolerable  await  the  disciples  of  any  other  religion.  But 
what  are  the  facts  ?  I  had  a  long  ride  in  St.  Petersburg  and  its  suburbs  with  the  Prefect,  a 
brilliant,  efficient  and  lovely  man,  who  is  the  highest  official  in  the  city  of  St.  Petersburg, 
and  whose  chief  business  is  to  attend  the  Emperor.     I  said  to  him  :   "  I  suppose  your  religion 

is  that  of  the 
Greek  Church?" 
"  No,"  said  he,  "I 
am  a  Lutheran." 
"  What  is  your 
religion  ?  "  I  said 
to  one  of  the  high- 
est and  most  influ- 
ential officials  at 
St.  Petersburg. 
He  said  :  "  I  am 
of  the  Church  of 
England. "  M  v- 
self,  an  American, 
of  still  another 
denomination  o  f 
Christians,  a  n  d 
never  having  been 
inside  a  Greek 
Church  in  mv  life 
until     I     went    to 

Russia,  could  not  have  received  more  consideration  had  I  been  baptized  in  the  Greek  Church 
and  all  mv  life  worshiped  at  her  altars.  I  had  it  demonstrated  to  me  very  plainly  that  a 
man's  religion  in  Russia  has  nothing  to  do  with  his  preferment  for  either  office  or  social 
position.  The  onlv  questions  taken  into  such  consideration  are  honesty,  fidelity,  morality 
and  adaptation.  I  had  not  been  in  St.  Petersburg  an  hour  before  I  received  an  invitation  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  I  believe  it.  Besides  all  this,  have  you  forgotten  that  the 
Crimean  War,  which  shook  the  earth,  grew  out  of  Russia's  interference  in  behalf  of  the 
persecuted  Christians  of  all  nations  of  Turkev?  "  But,"  says  some  one,  "  have  there  not  been 
persecutions  of  other  religions  in  Russia?"  No  doubt,  just  ns  in  other  times  in  New 
England  we  burned  witches  and  as  we  killed  Quakers  and  as  the  Jews  in  America  have 
been  outrageouslv  treated  ever  since  I  can  remember,  and  the  Chinese  in  our  land  have 
been  pelted  and  their  stores  torn  down,  and  their  wa>-  from  the  steamer  wharf  to  their 
destined  quarters  tracked  with  their  own  blood.      The  devil   of  persecution  is  in  every  land 


\\  I  s  1  IK     I'AI.  \i. 


>l       I')-T1.  K^lil    !■: 


4T4 


THE  WORLD  AS  vSEEN  TO-DAY. 


and  in  all  ages.  Some  of  u.s  in  the  different  denomination.s  of  Christians  in  America  have 
felt  the  thrust  of  persecution,  because  we  thought  differently  or  did  things  differently  from 
those  who  would,  if  the)'  had  the  power,  put  us  in  a  furnace  eight  times  heated,  one  more 
degree  of  caloric  than  Nebuchadnezzar's.  Persecutions  in  all  lands,  but  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  sanctions  none  of  them.  I  had  a  most  satisfactory  talk  with  the  Emperor  about  the 
religions  of  the  world,  and  he  thinks  and  feels  as  you  and  I  do,  that  religion  is  something 
between  a  man  and  his  God,  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  interfere  witli  it.  You  may  go 
right  up  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  with  your  Episcopal  liturgy  or  your  Presbyterian 
catechism  or  your  Congregationalist's  Liberalism  or  your  Immersionist's  Baptistery,  or  any 
other  religion,  and  if  you  mind  your  own  affairs  and  let  others  mind  theirs,  you  will  not  be 
molested. 

Calumny  the  fourth  :  Siberia  is  a  den  of  horrors,  and  to-daj'  people  are  driven  there 
like  dumb  cattle  ;  no  trial  is  afforded  to  the  suspected  ones,  the\-  are  put  into  quicksilver 
mines,  where  they  are 
whipped  and  starved 
and  some  day  find  them- 
selves going  around 
without  any  head. 
Some  of  them  do  not 
get  so  far  as  Siberia. 
Women,  after  being  tied 
to  stakes  in  the  streets, 
are  disrobed,  and 
whipped  to  death  in  the 
presence  of  howling 
mobs.  Offenders  hear 
their  own  flesh  siss  under 
the  hot  irons. 

But  what  are  the 
facts?  There  are  no 
kinder  people  on  earth 
than  the  Russians,  and 
to  most  of  them  cruelty 
is  an  impossibility.  I 
hold  in  my  hand  a  card. 
You  see  on  it  that  red 
circle.  That  is  the  government  seal  on  a  card  giving  me  permission  to  see  nil  the 
prisons  in  St.  Petersburg,  as  I  had  expressed  a  wish  in  that  direction.  As  the  messenger 
handed  this  card  to  me,  he  told  me  that  a  carriage  was  at  the  door  for  my  disposal  in  visiting 
the  prisons.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  I  was  crowded  with  engagements  and  could  not 
make  the  visitation.  But  do  you  suppose  such  cheerful  permission  and  a  carriage  to  boot 
would  have  been  offered  me  if  the  prisons  of  Russia  are  .such  hells  on  earth  as  they  have 
been  described  to  be  ?  I  asked  an  eminent  and  distinguished  American  :  "  Have  you  visited 
the  prisons  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  how  do  they  differ  from  American  prisons?  "  He  replied  : 
"  I  have  visited  them  and  they  are  as  well  ventilated  and  as  well  conditioned  in  ever\-  respect 
as  the  majority  of  the  prisons  in  America."  Are  women  whipped  in  the  street  ?  No  ;  that 
statement  comes  from  the  manufactory  of  fabrication,  a  manufactory   that   runs  night  and 


ST.    ISAAC    CATHKIJKAI,,    ST.   I'KTKKSHURC, 


f4'S) 


4i6 


THE    EARTH    (ilRDLED. 


day,  so  the  supply  may  meet  the  demand.  But  how  about  Siberia?  My  answer  is  Siberia 
is  the  prison  of  Russia,  a  prison  more  than  twice  tlie  size  of  the  United  States.  John 
Howard,  who  did  more  for  tlie  improvement  of  prisoners  and  the  reformation  of  criminals 
than  any  man  that  ever  lived,  his  name  a  synonym  for  mercy  throughout  Christendom, 
declared  In'  \-oice  and  pen  that  the  svstem  of  transportation  of  criminals  from  Russia  to 
Siberia  was  an  admirable  plan,  advocating-  open-air  punishment  rather  than  endungeonment, 
and  also  because  it  was  taking  all  offenders  hundreds  of  miles  away  from  their  evil 
companions.  John  Howard,  after  witnessing  the  plan  of  deportation  of  criminals  from 
Russia  to  vSiberia,  commended  it  to  England. 

If  a   man   commits   nnirder  in   Russia,  he  is  not  electrocuted  as  we  electrocute  him,  or 
choked  to  death  by  a  halter  as  we  choke  him   to  death.      Murderers  and  desperate  villains 


jKW  mi;kchants. 

are  sent  to  the  hardest  parts  of  Siberia,  but  no  man  is  sent  to  vSiberia  or  doomed  to  any  kind 
of  punishment  in  Russia  until  he  has  a  fair  trial.  So  far  as  their  being  hustled  off  in 
the  night  and  not  knowing  why  they  are  exiled  or  punished  is  concerned,  all  the  criminals 
in  Russia  have  an  open  trial  before  a  jury  just  as  we  have  in  America,  except  in  revolu- 
tionarv  or  riotous  times,  and  you  know  in  America  at  such  times  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
is  suspended.  There  are  in  Russia  grand  juries  and  petit  juries  and  the  right  to  challenge  the 
jurors,  and  the  prisoner  confronts  his  accuser,  and  maik  this,  as  in  no  other  country,  after 
a  prisoner  has  been  condemned  by  juries  and  judges  he  may  appeal  to  the  Senate  and  after 


27 


NICHiiI.AS    II.,    PRESENT  EMPEROR    OE   RI'SSIA.    l;'l:\    MW    iS,     lS6S. 


1417J 


4i8 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


that  to  the  Emperor  who  is  con- 
violent  and  nuirderous  are  sent 
the  more  moderate  criminals  to 
and  those  who  have  only  a  little 
positively  genial  for  climate,  for 
know,  that  Siberia  is  so  large  and 
frigidity  to  torridity,  from  almost 
that  of  Italy.  Rnn  yonr  finger 
will  find  that  the  lower  part  of 
of  latitude,  and  the  richest  part 
degree  of  latitude.  So  that  Siberia 
to  the  palm-leaf  fans  at  the 
that  ninety  per  cent  of  the  Rus- 
beria  go  into  a  climate  milder 
with  birds  and  embroidered  with 
the  botanists.  Aluch  of  the  soil 
for  a  plow  to  liberate  them, 
in  the  vast  majorit}-  of  cases  it 
a  new  start  under  the  best  possi- 
is  allowed  to  take  his  or  her  fam- 
other  countrv    yrants.       In    the 


stantly  pardoning.  As  I  said,  the 
to  the  hardest  part  of  Siberia,  but 
more  propitious  parts  of  Siberia, 
criminality  to  parts  of  Siberia 
>-ou  ought  to  know,  if  you  do  not 
wide  and  long  that  it  reaches  from 
Arctic  blast  to  climate  as  mild  as 
along  the  map  of  the  world  and  you 
Siberia  is  on  the  forty-fifth  degree 
of  Italy  is  on  the  same  forty-fifth 
reaches  from  the  furs  at  the  North 
South.  It  has  been  demonstrated 
sian  criminals  colonized  into  Si- 
than  New  York — a  land  songful 
flora  enough  manifold  to  confound 
is  a  rich  loam  and  harvests  wait 
When  a  criminal  is  sent  to  Siberia 
gives  him  an  opportunity  to  make 
ble  circumstances.  The  criminal 
ilv  along,  and  that  is  a  mercy  no 
quicksilver  mines  of   Siberia,   the 


MOSCOW. 


SCeNKS   OF   DR.  TAfcMAGE'S   RECEPTION    IN   ST.   PETERSBURG. 


(419) 


420 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


hardest  place   of  expatriation,   only   one-fonrtli   of   the  miners  are  criminals.       The  other 
three-fourths  go  there  because  they  choose  it  as  a  place  to  earn  their  living. 

After  being  in  Siberia  a  while,  the  condemned  go  to  earning  a  livelihood,  and  they 
come  to  own  their  own  farms,  and  orchards  and  vineyards,  many  of  these  people  coming  to 
wealth,  and  thousands  of  them  under  no  inducement  would  leave  these  parts  of  Siberia 
which  are  paradises  for  salubrity  and  luxuriance.  Now,  which  do  )ou  think  is  the  best 
style  of  a  prison — Siberia  or  many  of  our  American  prisons  ?  When  a  man  commits  a  big 
crime  in  our  countr\-,  the  judge  looks  into  the  frightened  face  of  the  culprit,  and  says : 
*'  You  have  been  found  guilty  ;  I  sentence  you  to  the  penitentiary  for  ten  years."  He  goes 
to  prison.  He  is  shut  up  in  between  four  walls.  No  sunlight.  No  fresh  air.  No  bath-room. 
Before  he  has  served  his  ten  years,  he  dies  of  consumption,  or  is  so  enervated  that  for  the 
rest  of  his  life  he  sits  with  folded  hands  a  wheezing  invalid.  In  preference  to  the  shut-in 
life  of  the  average  American  prisoner,  give  me  Siberia.     Besides  that,  when  offenders  come 

out  of  prison  in 
America  what 
chance  have  they  ? 
Ask  the  poorly  sup- 
ported societies, 
formed  to  get  these 
people  places  for 
work.  Ask  me,  to 
whom  the  newly 
liberated  come  from 
all  the  prisons,  im- 
ploring what  they 
shall  do.  No  one 
will  commend  them. 
The  pallor  of  incar- 
ceration is  on  their 
cheek.  Who  wants 
to  employ  in  factory 
or  store  a  man  or 
woman,  who,  in  an- 
swer to  the  question, 

"  Where  did  >-ou  live  last  ?  "  should  make  the  reph' :  "  State's  prison  at  Auburn  or  Moya- 
mensing?"  Now,  in  Siberia  they  have  a  better  chance.  They  are  never  spoken  of  as 
criminals,  but  as  unfortunates,  and  they  are  allowed  every  opportunity  of  retrieving  their 
lost  reputation  and  lost  fortunes.  I  talked  with  the  president  of  the  National  Society  of 
Russia  for  the  Education  and  Moralization  of  the  Children  of  Siberian  Convicts.  The 
president  of  that  society,  appointed  by  the  Emperor,  is  a  lady  of  great  accomplishments, 
and  much  sympathy,  which  illumines  her  face  and  makes  tearful  her  e\-es  and  tremulous 
her  voice.  The  evening  I  passed  at  her  house  in  St.  Petersburg  was  one  of  the  memorable 
events  of  my  lifetime.  I  will  not  attempt  to  pronounce  the  name  of  that  noble  woman, 
appointed  by  the  Emperor  as  the  president  of  the  National  Society  of  Russia  for  the 
Education  and  Moralization  of  the  Children  of  Convicts.  Please  to  name  any  such  national 
societv  in  our  country,  supported  by  government,  for  taking  care  of  the  children  of  con- 
victs.    You  know,  if  you  know  anything,  that  there  is  no  chance  in  this  country  for  a  man 


HOUSE  OF  PETER   THE   GKEAT,  ON    AN    ISLAND  IN  THE  NEVA  RIVER,   ST.   PETERSBURG. 


4-"'  I 


422 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


who  has  been  imprisoned,  or  for  his  children.  God  pity  tlieni  and  hasten  the  time  when 
we  shall,  by  some  national  institution  established  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
imitate  the  mercy  of  the  Russian  Government  toward  the  innocent  children  of  imprisoned 
offenders.  He  who  charges  cruelty  on  the  imperial  family  and  the  nobility  of  Russia  belies 
men  and  women  as  gracious  and  benignant  as  ever  breathed  oxygen. 

I  sat  at  the  table  of  an  American  in  St.  Petersburg  and  beside  a  baroness  who  had 
almost  impoverished  her  estates  by  contribution  to  the  suffering  districts  of  the  drought.  In 
addition  to  her  charities  she  went  down  to  the  afflicted  districts  and  toiled  for  their  relief 
until  she  was  down  with  the  typhus  fever.  After  recovering  from  that,  she  toiled  on  among 
the  sufferers  until  she  was  down  with  the  small-pox.  She  was  at  St.  Petersburg  trying  to 
recover  her  health,  and  was  making  preparation  to  return  to  the  afflicted  districts.  She 
connnitted  to  me  a  literary  errand,  by  which  through  her  translation  of  the  writings  of 
eminent  Russians,  she  would  furnish  free  of  charge  to  some  American  publishing  house, 
books  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  which  would  go  to  the  relief  of  suffering  in  the 
drought  regions.      The  Emperor  himself  gave  seventy-five  million  dollars  for  the  relief  of 


GENERAL    VIEW   OF   THE    KREMLIN,   MOSCOW. 

The  Kremlin  is  the  citadel  of  Moscow,  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  city  and  enclosing,  by  a  stone  wall  7280  feet  in  circumference, 
several  of  the  grandest  buildings  in  the  metropolis,  including  churches,  monasteries,  arsenals  and  museums.  In  the  cathedral  called 
Archangel  Michael  are  the  tombs  of  all  the  Czars  down  to  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  Kremlin  is  entered  by  five  gateways,  the 
most  important  of  which  is  the  Redeemer's  Gate,  through  which  Napoleon's  army  marched  when  it  took  possession  of  Moscow 
in  1S12. 

those  suffering  fi-om  the  failure  of  crops  and  that  is  a  charity  that  challenges  all  history  for 
an  equal. 

The  merciful  character  of  the  present  Emperor  was  well  illustrated  in  the  following 
occurrence  :  The  man  who  supervised  the  assassination  of  the  grand-father  of  the  present 
Emperor,  standing  in  the  snow  that  awful  clay,  when  the  dynamite  shattered  to  pieces  the 
legs  of  Alexander  the  Second, — I  say  the  man  who  supervised  all  this  fled  from  vSt.  Peters- 
burg and  quit  Russia.  But  after  a  while  the  nran  repented  of  his  crime,  and  wrote  to  the 
Emperor  asking  forgiveness  for  the  murder  of  his  father  and  promising  to  be  a  good 
citizen,  and  asking  if  he  might  come  back  to  Russia.  The  Emperor  pardoned  the  murderer 
of  his  father  and  the  forgiven  assassin  is  now  living  in  Russia,  unless  recently  deceased. 
When  I  talked  to  the  Empress  concerning  the  sympathy  felt  in  America  for  the  sufferings 
of  the  drought-struck  regions  of  Russia,  she  evinced  an  absorbing  interest  and  a  compassion 
and  an  emotion  of  manner  and  speech  such  as  we  men  can  hardly  realize,  because  it  seems 
that  God  has  reserved  for  woman  as  her  great  adornment ,  the  coronet,  the  tear-jeweled 
coronet  of  tenderness  and  commiseration.     If  you  say  that  it  was  a  man,  a  Divine  Man  that 


THE  GREAT  BELI.,  MOSCOW. 
The  great  bell  of  Moscow,  called  the  Czar  Kolokol,  is  tlie  largest  that  was  ever  cast,  weighing  400  000  pounds  and  standing 
twenty-one  feet  high.  The  bell  was  cast  in  1730  and  hung  in  the  tower  Ivan  Veliki,  within  the  Kremlin  walls,  with  forty-three 
other  bells  of  various  sizes.  Seven  years  later  the  tower  burned  and  the  king  of  bells  fell  with  such  force  that  it  sunk  deep  into 
the  earth  and  a  large  piece  was  broken  from  its  side.  For  one  hundred  years  it  lay  neglected,  half  embedded  in  the  ground, 
when  Nicholas  I.  caused  it  to  be  raised  and  mounted  upon  a  pedestal,  where  it  still  remains.  The  value  of  the  bell  at  the  price 
for  old  metal  is  $200,000. 

(423) 


424 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


came  to  save  the  world,  I  say,  "  Yes,"  but  it  was  a  woman  that  gave  the  man.  Witness  all 
the  jMadonnas,  Italian,  German,  English  and  Russian,  that  bloom  in  the  picture  gallerj'  of 
Christendom.     Son  of  Mary,  have  mercy  on  us  ! 

But  how  about  the  knout,  the  cruel  Russian  knout,  that  comes  down  on  the  bare  back 
of  agonized   criminals?     Why,  Russia  abolished  the   knout  before    it   was  abolished  from 

our  American  navy.  But 
how  about  the  political 
prisoners  hustled  off  to  Si- 
beria? According  to  the 
testimony  of  the  most  cele- 
brated literary  enemy  of 
Russia,  onl}'  four  hundred 
and  forty-three  political 
prisoners  were  sent  to 
Siberia  in  twenty  years. 
How  many  political  prisoners 
did  we  put  in  prison  pens- 
during  the  four  years  of  Civil 
War  ?  Well,  I  guess  at  least 
one  hundred  thousand. 
America's  one  hundred 
thousand  political  prisoners 
versus  Russia's  four  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  political 
prisoners.  Nearly  all  these 
four  hundred  and  forty-three 
of  twenty  years  were  noble- 
men, or  people  desperately 
opposed  to  the  emancipation 
of  the  serfs.  And  none  of 
the  political  prisoners  are 
sent  to  the  famous  Kara 
mines.  For  the  most  part, 
you  are  dependent  for  infor- 
mation upon  the  testimony 
of  prisoners  who  are  sent 
to  Siberia.  They  all  say 
they  were  innocent.  Prison- 
ers always  are  innocent. 
Ask  all  the  prisoners  of 
America  to-day  :  "  Guilty 
or  Not  Guilty,"  and  nine- 
teen out  of  twenty  will 
plead,  "  Not  Guilt\-."  Ask  them  how  they  like  their  prison  and  how  they  like  slieriffs  and 
how  they  like  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  you  will  find  these  prisoners 
admire  the  authority  that  arrested  them  and  punished  them  just  about  as  much  as  the 
political  prisoners  of  Russia  like  Siberia. 


GREAT  VOTIVE   CHURCH,    MOSCOW,  IN   WHICH   THE   CORONATION   CERE- 
MONIES  .\RE   PERFORMED. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


425 


But  you  ask,  how  will  this  Russopliobia,  with  which  so  mauy  have  been  bitten  and 
poisoned,  be  cured  ?  By  the  God  of  Justice  blessing  such  books  and  pamphlets  as  are  now 
coming  out  from  Professor  de  Arnaud  of  Washington,  Mr.  Horace  Cutter  of  San  Francisco, 
Mr.  Morfill  of  England,  and  by  the  opening  of  our  American  gates  to  the  writings  of  some 
twenty-four  of  the  Russian  authors  and  authoresses,  in  some  respects  as  brilliant  as  the  three 
or  four  Russian  authors  already  known — the  translation  of  those  twenty-four  authors,  which 
I  am  authorized  from  Russia  to  offer  free  of  charge  to  any  responsible  American  publishing 
house  that  will  do  them  justice.  Let  these  Russians  tell  their  own  story,  for  they  are  the  only 
ones  fullv  competent  to  do  the  work,  as  none  but  Americans  can  fully  tell  the  story  of  America, 
and  none  but  Germans  can  fully  tell  the  story  of  Germany,  and  none  but  Englishmen  can 
fullv  tell  the  storv  of  England,  and  none  but  Frenchmen  can  fullv  tell  the  storv  of  France. 


PALACE   AND   TRKASURY   AT   MOSCOW. 


Meanwhile,  let  the  international  defamation  come  to  an  end.  But  I  have  been  asked  to  say 
something  concerning  my  reception  by  the  imperial  family  last  summer.  Stepping  from  the 
Moscow  train  on  returning  to  St.  Petersburg,  an  invitation  was  put  in  my  hand  inviting  me 
to  the  palace  on  the  following  Friday.  I  had  already  seen  the  Crown  Prince  in  his  palace, 
a  young  man  of  twent\-four  years,  educated,  clear-eyed,  affable,  handsome,  and  on  him  all 
the  signs  of  good  habits.  I  am  sure  he  will  be  fitted  for  the  throne  when  in  tlie  roll  of  }'cars 
he  shall  be  called  to  mount  it.  But  this  invitation  from  the  Emperor  I  had  not  expected. 
On  the  day  appointed  I  took  the  train  for  Peterhof,  about  nine  or  ten  miles  from  St. 
Petersburg.  A  messenger  the  day  before  called  upon  me  at  the  hotel  and  gave  me  informa- 
tion as  to  what  train  to  take.  He  met  meat  the  train.  After  a  ride  through  a  beautiful 
region  of  country  I  arrived  at  the  station  near  the  imperial  grounds.     The  royal  carriao-e 


426 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


was  waiting,  and  the  two  decorated  representatives  of  the  place  took  me  to  a  building  where 
a  suite  of  three  rooms  was  appointed  me  where  I  rested  and  lunched  and  examined  the 
flowers  and  walked  under  the  trees.  After  an  hour  and  a  half  I  was  told  that  the  carriage 
was  waiting,  and  after  a  ride  among  fountains  and  statuary  and  arbors  and  roads  winding 
through  parks  of  trees  from  all  lands,  and  flower-beds,  circular  and  stellar,  and  spread  out  in 

a  very  carnage  of 
color,  I  dismounted 
at  the  palace  of  the 
Emperor.  Ha\-ing 
entered,  I  was  taken 
to  a  waiting-room, 
where  I  had  a  long 
conversation  with  an 
aged  prince  who  has 
for  many  years  waited 
upon  the  imperial 
family.  He  asked  me 
many  questions  about 
America,  especially 
about  the  coming 
Chicago  World's 
Fair,  which  he  re- 
gretted not  being  able 
to  visit.  After  a  while 
word  came  that  the 
Emperor  was  ready 
to  receive  me.  I  was 
led  up  bv  a  somewhat 
labyrinthine  way, 
among  lines  of  ser- 
vants, and  to  what 
seemed  to  be  the  third 
story  of  the  palace, 
where  I  was  again 
halted.  An  official 
entered  the  Emper- 
or's room  and  re- 
turned, leaving  the 
door  open,  and  re- 
questing me  to  enter. 
I  found  the  Emperor 
standing  mid-floor, 

and  beside  a  desk  on  which  he  had  been  writing,  a  desk  loaded  with  papers.  The 
Emperor  greeted  me  with  nmch  heartiness.  And  at  first  glance,  seeing  him  to  be  a  splendid 
gentleman,  with  no  airs  of  pretension  and  as  artless  as  any  man  I  ever  saw,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  we  were  old  friends  at  the  start.  "  Sit  down,"  he  said.  "  Sit  down,"  pointing  to  a  chair 
on  one  side  of  a  table,  while  he  took   the  chair  on   the   other.     He  is  the  picture  of  good 


GOLD   ENAMELLED   TEA   SERVICE 

Presented  by  Alexander  nl..  Emperor  of  Russia,  to  T.  DeWitt  Talma^e,  through  Prince 
Cantacusine,  Russian  Minister  to  United  States,  in  Philadelphia  Harbor,  on  Russian  warship, 
June,  1892. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TQ-DAY. 


427 


health,  and  everything  in  his  looks  indicate  temperate  living.  I  could  easily  understand 
how,  when  he  gets  among  the  children,  his  own  and  his  nephews  and  nieces,  he  challenges 
them  to  pull  him  down,  and  a  half  dozen  tugging  at  him,  fail  to  make  him  budge  and  then 

and  his  nephews  and  nieces  shout  at  him, 

be  the  liveliest  one  of  all  the   romping 

not  give  half  the  kindliness  or  vivacity 

few   words  to  give   the  impression   I 

from   his  manner  and    conversation 

way  you  take  him."       At  the  very 

of  his  rugged  and  robust  physique, 


the  youngsters  chase  him    under   the  trees 
''  ITncle   Sasha  !     Uncle   Sasha  !"   he   can 
group.     The  photographs  of  the  Czar  do 
of  his  countenance.      If  I  were  asked  in 
got  of  the   character  of  the  Emperor, 
I  would  say  :  "  He  is  a  strong  man  any 
opening  of  the    conversation  I  spoke 


TEMPLE   OF   OTTR    SAVIOUR,    MOSCOW. 

and  asked  him  how  he  got  and  kept  that  brawn  and  muscle  and  wondrous  vitality. 
He  rides.  He  walks.  He  hews  with  an  axe.  He  races  with  his  boys.  He  takes  a 
cheerful  view  of  life.  He  worships  God.  He  lives  a  moral  life.  He  easily  digests  his 
food.  He  fears  nothing.  At  forty-seven,  he  has  the  appearance  of  being  thirty-five.  His 
autograph,  which  he  gave  me,  looks  like  a  battlefield,  but  of  ink  instead  of  blood.  Beside 
all  that,  he  has  a  happy  home  and  his  domestic  life  is  beyond  criticism.  He  has  a  mellow 
voice,  animated  manner,  radiant  countenance.     He  is  about  six  feet  two  inches  in  stature 


428 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


and  well  proportioned.  He  said  to  me,  the  Empress  will  see  yon,  bnt  it  will  be  in  another 
room.  So  shaking  hands  twice  and  with  an  intermingling  of  God  bless  you  we  parted, 
and  following  a  chamberlain  I  descended  to  the  first  floor  and  waited  a  few  moments  in  an 
outer  I'oom,  and  then  entered  the  reception-room  of  the  Empress. 

Oh,  she  is  a  June  morning  !  She  stood  mid-floor  in  her  drawing-room  when  I  entered. 
She  is  everv  inch  an  Empress.  Majest}'  and  grace  and  loveliness  are  hers.  Her  pictures 
do  not  give  her  best  expression.  When  I  said  to  her  :  "  There  will  be  no  great  war  in  our 
time,  because  the  weapons  of  war  have  been  fashioned  for  such  wholesale  destruction  that 
the  rulers  of  the  earth  will  prefer  arbitration  to  massacre,"  she  replied:  "  Oh,  I  hope  so," 
and  then  we  discoursed  of  international  brotherhood,  and  she  gave  her  exalted  idea  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  accurate,  though  deliberate,  English,  had  something  charming  to 
say  on  many  things.     She  said  :  "  You  must  see  my  children  !  "  and  opening  the  door  she 


AUTOGRAPH    OV    ALEXANDER    HI.  ,  EMPEROR    OF   RUSSIA. 


AUTOGRAPH    OF   THE    DOWAGER-EMPRESS   OF    RUSSIA. 
The  above  are  the  autographs  of  tlie  Emperor  aud  Dowager-Empress  of  Russia,  given  to  me  in  the  Palace  at  Peterhof. 

introduced  them  with  enthusiasm  of  affection,  saying :  "  This,  my  daughter,  is  seventeen 
years  of  age.  One  of  the  boys  is  at  sea.  Here  is  another  son  and  here  another  daughter. 
A  jollier  group  never  burst  forth  from  tlie  doors  of  a  school-room.  The  older  daughter 
is  affianced  to  a  foreign  dignitary,  and  is  fair  and  intelligent,  and  seemed  to  be  a  girl  of 
broad,  common  sense,  and  will  be  a  queen  in  any  house  to  which  she  is  taken.  The  youngest 
girl  came  into  the  room  almost  on  a  skip,  a  bundle  of  fun,  laughing  and  sunshiny,  and 
could  hardh'  stand  still  long  enough  to  shake  hands.  Standing  back  by  the  door,  till  I 
drew  him  forward,  was  a  prince  of  about  eight  years,  collar  cut  sailor  shape,  a  splendid  boy, 
high  forehead,  Ijut  all  boy,  and  had  evidently  come  in  from  fl>ing  kite  or  playing  ball. 
After  giving  me  some  flowers  for  my  wife,  and  we  had  wished  for  each  other  all  happiness 
"in  the  here  and  the  hereafter,  I  left  the  room,  impressed  as  much  with  the  idea  of  a  Chris- 
tian home  as  with  the  grandeurs  of  a  palace.     After  dining  I  departed.     Nothing  more  in 


THE  WORI,D  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


429 


the  shape  of  courtesy  could  have  been  shown  me  tlian   was  demonstrated  that  day.     The 
Emperor's  carriage  and  its  attendants  took   nie   to   the  railroad  station,  and  his  messenger 


accompanied  me  to  the  door 
burg.       If  all    the   rulers  of 
spirit  wliich  belongs  to  those 
be  long  before  the  bells  of 
and  I  think  the  bells  will 
joy  of  those  coming  times, 
the    full    sweetness     and 
have   heard  the  bells  of 
them  on  the  evening  of 
After  examining  at  the 
dred    cannons    w  h  i  c  h 
snow    after    Napoleon 
retreated    from     Mo.s- 
cow,     each       cannon 
deep     cut    with     the 
letter  "  N,"  I  ascend- 
ed   a    tower     about 
three  hundred   feet 
high,    just    before 
sunset,     and      on 
each     platform 
there   were  bells 


of  my  hotel  in  St.  Peters- 
the  earth  were  of  the  same 
I  met  that  day  it  would  not 
the  millenuinm  would  ring, 
have  much  to  do  with  the 
But  you  can  hardly  know 
power  of  bells  unless  you 
Moscow  ring  as  I  heard 
m\-  visit  to  that  great  city. 
Kremlin  some  nine  hun- 
were    picked    out    of    the 


CATHEDRAI,   OF   OStA0KINO,  MOSCOW. 

laige  and  small,  and  I  climbed  up  among  the  bells,  and  then  as  I  reached  the  top,  all  the 
bells  underneath  me  began  to  ring,  and  they  were  joined  by  the  bells  of  fourteen  hundred 
towers  and  domes  and  turrets.     Some  of  the  bells  sent  out  a  faint  tinkle  of  sound,  a  sweet 


430 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


tintiniiabnlatioii  that  seemed  to  bubble  in  the  air,  and  others  thundered  forth  boom  after 
boom,  boom  after  boom,  until  it  seemed  to  shake  the  earth  and  fill  the  heavens — sounds  so 
"vveird,  so  sweet,  so  awful,  so  grand,  so  charming,  so  tremendous,  so  soft,  so  rippling,  so  rever- 
iDerating — and  they  seemed  to  wreathe  and  whirl,  and  rise,  and  sink,  and  burst,  and  roll,  and 
mount  and  die.  When  Napoleon  saw  Moscow  burn,  it  could  not  have  been  more  brilliant 
than  when  I  saw  all  the  fourteen  hundred  turrets  aflame  with  the  sunset,  roofs  of  gold  and 
walls  of  malachite,  and  pillars  of  porphyry  and  balustrades  of  mosaic,  and  visions  of  lapis 
lazuli,  and  architecture  of  all  colors  mingling  the  brown  of  autumnal  forests  and  the  blue  of 
summer  heavens,  and  the  conflagration  of  morning  skies,  and  the  green  of  rich  meadows 
and  the  foam  of  tossing  seas.  The  mingling  of  so  many  colors  with  so  mau>-  sounds  was 
an  entrancement  almost  too  much  for  human  nerves  or  human  eyes  or  human  ears.  But 
all  that  was  tame  compared  with  the  day  of  millennial  glory  that  is  coming  to  our  world 
when  the  bells  of  joy  shall  sound,  not  in  the  sunset,  but  in  the  sunrise,  ringing  out  "  peace 
on  earth, good  will  to  men."  From  the  domes  of  all  the  churches,  from  the  domes  of  all 
the  palaces,  from  the  domes  of  all  the  capitols,  from  the  domes  of  all  the  cities,  from  the 
domes  of  all  the  nations — Bells  !  Bells  !  Bells  ! 

Alas  !  Since  writing  the  above  Alexander  the  Third  has  died,  and  the  world  has  been 
filled  with  lamentation.  The  beautiful  Empress  is  broken-hearted,  and  the  children  are 
fatherless.  Nicholas  the  Second  has  mounted  the  throne,  and  I  am  expecting  from  wh.at  1 
saw  of  him  that  he  will  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  excellent  father. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

GOSPEL    OF    BREAD.  , 

OWENTY-FIVE  million  people  a-luingered  in  Russia  b}-  reason  of  three  years 
of  drought  had  called  forth  the  sj-mpathies  of  the  world,  and  the  religious  paper 
with  which  I  am  connected  had  at  the  call  of  its  publisher  sent  about  $35,000 
worth  of  breadstuffs  by  the  ship  Leo  wdiich  I  saw  come  to  the  docks  about 
three  miles  down  the  river  from  St.  Petersburg.  On  a  beautiful  )-acht  we  left  the  wharf  of  St. 
Petersburg  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  having  on  board  the  mayor  of  the  city,  a 
representative   of  royalty,   counts  and   countesses,   our  distinguished   Consul   General   Dr. 


&-^ 


DR.    TALMAGE,  ON   GANG-PLANK   OF   SHIP   LEO,  RESPONDING  TO    A   SPEECH    BY   THE   MAYOR    AND    REPRESEN- 
TATIVES   OF   ROYALTY,  ST.  PETERSBURG 

Crawford,  and  chief  citizens  interested  in  the  international  charity,  and  we  soon  reached  the 
wharf  toward  which  the  steamer  Leo  was  swinging  up.  The  gang-plank  of  the  ship  thrown 
out,  the  mavor  of  the  city  took  his  place  upon  it  and  made  an  address  appreciative  of 
American  generositv.  He  was  followed  by  the  representative  of  royalty  on  the  same  theme. 
It  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  would  be  expected  to  respond  until  the  eyes  of  all  those 
present  were  turned  toward  me.      It  was  in  many  respects  the  most  trying  moment  of  my 

U3I) 


432  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

public  life.  While  I  wa.s  doing  as  well  as  I  could,  I  saw  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten.  It 
was  the  imperial  freight  train  rolling  down  to  the  wharf  to  receive  the  breadstuflfs  from  the 
steamer  Leo,  and  carry  them  to  the  starving.  On  each  car  was  a  flag,  the  Russian  and  the 
American  flags  alternating.  At  that  procession  of  flags  all  eyes  were  filled  with  tears. 
Hundreds  of  working  people  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  river  to  transfer,  free  of  charge,  the 
American  donation  of  bread  to  the  rail  train.  When  a  few  days  after  I  saw  the  Czarowitch, 
or  Crown  Prince,  now  Emperor  Nicholas  the  Second,  he  referred  to  that  scene,  and  the  part  I 
had  taken  in  it.  A  few  days  after  I  had  not  long  to  remain  in  the  ante-room  of  the  Crown 
Prince  at  his  palace.  A  chamberlain  came  out  before  my  entrance  to  a.sk  in  what  language 
I  would  prefer  to  converse,  and  I  responded,  "English."  As  the  door  opened  I  found  m\  self 
in  the  presence  of  a  man  as  artless  as  any  clerk  of  a  dr}-  goods  store,  or  anv  blacksmith  at 
his  anvil.  The  Crown  Prince  had  nothing  in  his  bearing  to  indicate  that  he  would  ever 
inherit  a  throne.  His  photograph,  which  he  sent  me  some  months  after  my  arrival  at  home, 
I  believe  is  to  be  put,  together  with  his  atitograph,  upon  a  page  of  this  book.  Amiability, 
kindness  and  sympathy  are  in  the  features.  But  stamped  upon  all  of  them  is  strength  and 
firmness  and  determination.  He  looks  more  like  his  mother  than  his  father.  He  has  not 
now  the  robustness  his  father  had  before  the  railroad  accident,  nor  is  he  by  some  inches  as 
great  in  stature.  His  marriage  to  Princess  Alex  was  exactly  to  the  wishes  of  his  father 
and  mother,  and  was  a  case  not  of  international  plotting,  or  for  political  reasons,  but  a  case 
of  old-fashioned  love.     I  prophesy  for  Nicholas  the  Second  a  long  and  happy  reign  ! 

Of  course  I  can  never  forget  my  Russian  experiences,  and  to  remind  me  of  them  I  have 
only  to  look  at  the  exquisite  presentation  made  me  after  I  got  home,  by  Emperor  Alexander  the 
Third.  Prince  Cantacnsine,  the  Russian  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  Washington,  telegraphed 
me  that  he  had  a  presentation  to  make  me  from  the  Emperor  and  it  must  be  done  on 
Russian  soil,  and  so  he  asked  me  to  come  on  board  a  Russian  warship  lying  in  Philadeljihia 
harbor.  On  that  vessel  the  Prince  gave  me  a  complete  gold  enameled  tea  service  accom- 
panied by  a  message  of  love  which  I  cannot  now  think  of  without  deep  emotion  since 
Emperor  Alexander  has  disappeared  from  the  palaces  of  earth  to  take  his  place,  as  I  believe, 
in  the  palaces  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER   XLV. 

GREAT     BRITAIN. 

BET  me  forewarn  my  readers  that  I  look  at  things  from  a  partial  standpoint,  and  that 
at  any  moment  my  heart  mav  run  awa}'  with  my  head.  Whatevei- other  kind  of 
ink  I  use  in  these  sketches  I  will  not  use  blue.  If  I  cannot  find  anything  but 
blue  ink  I  will  not  write  at  all.  Rather  than  that,  I  would  even  prefer  red  ink, 
for  that  is  the  color  of  the  morning.  I  would  not  be  offended  if  I  am  charged  with  writing 
with  ink  verdant  or  green,  for  that  is  a  very  respectable  color,  being  the  same  as  the  palm- 
leaf,  and  the  rushes,  and  some  parts  of  the  deep  sea.  I  shall  paint  with  the  cheeriest  color  I 
can  find  in  the  studio.  If  I  find  a  tear  I  will  hold  it  up  till  in  the  light  it  becomes  a  globule 
of  melted  sunshine. 

England  and  Scotland  have  always  treated  me  so  magnificently  that  I  am  in  a  mood  to 
be  pleased  with  everything. 

Shaking  hands  every  day  witli  thousands  of  people  in  halls  and  churches,  and  at  rail- 
way stations,  till    my  right  hand  is  disabled   and  fit   only  for   a  sling,  because  of  the  stout 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE,    FRONT   VIEW. 


grips,  accompanied  by  emphatic  "  God  bless  you,"  I  am  swamped  for  the  work  of  harsh 
criticism.  I  tell  you  at  the  start,  I  like  England,  her  landscapes,  her  cities,  her  government, 
her  common  people,  and  her  aristocrac}'.  I  here  part  forever  with  all  the  cynical  and  satur- 
nine. I  do  not  want  to  live  on  the  same  street  with  them  in  heaven.  They  will  always 
be  singing  out  of  tune,  and  searching  for  fractures  in  the  amethyst,  and  finding  fault  with 
the  country.  Give  them  a  world  to  themselves  where  they  can  have  an  eternity  of  pouting, 
a  sky  full  of  drizzle-drozzle,  an  owl  in  each  tree  to  hoot  away  the  hours,  and  a  kennel  of 
snarling  rat  terriers  to  nip  the  robe  of  every  angelic  intruder. 
28  (433) 


434 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


After  another  long  voyage  we  swing  into  the  English  harbor.  It  is  night,  and  rockets, 
shot  np  from  the  stern  of  tlie  ship,  invite  the  pilot-boat  and  the  steam  tug  to  come  out  to 
meet  us.  The  sea  has  its  "  back  up,"  and  the  pilot-boat  makes  a  dash  for  our  steamer,  and 
misses  it ;  another  dash,  and  misses  it  again.  Then  we  see  the  blue  and  red  lights  of  the  tug- 
boat coming  out,  as  much  as  to  say — "  I  will  show  you  how  to  catch  a  steamer  !"  aims  at  it, 
but  crosses  in  front  of  our  prow  ;  aims  at  it  again,  but  falls  behind  our  stern.  We  stand  on 
deck  in  the  sopping  rain  to  watch  this  aquatic  game,  until  wearied  we  retire  to  our  room  for 
slumber.  As  we  are  falling  to  sleep,  there  is  a  sudden  charge  of  stout  men  into  our  private 
apartment. 

What  is  the  matter  now  ? 

Have  the  old-time  pirates  resuscitated  their  business,  and  are  we  to  be  seized  and 
made  to  walk  the  plank  ?  By  the  dim  light  from  the  hall  I  see  the  three  men  by 
mistake  putting  out  their  hands  toward  the  berth  in  which  sleeps  the  better  half  of  us. 
As  I  look  down    from  the  upper   berth    I   hear   loud  voices   saying,   "  Welcome  to   Eng- 


BTTCKINGHAM    PALACE,    SIDE   VIEW. 

land."  Bx  delegation  Ivondon,  Leeds  and  Dublin  have  teoked  in  upon  us.  I  respond 
in  mv  .shirt-sleeves,  but  I  am  so  surprised  at  the  sudden  incursion  that  the  response  is  not 
worthy  of  the  occasion,  and  amounts  only  to  a  sudden  ejaculation  of  "Where  "did  you 
come  from  ?" 

That  scene  was  only  a  forerunner  of  the  cordiality  and  generosity  of  these  people  of 
Great  Britain  toward  strangers.  Like  Americans  they  have  been  much  lied  about.  They 
are  warm-hearted  and  genial  to  the  last  degree.  Their  homes,  their  carriages,  their  hearts, 
are  all  wide  open.  We  have  not  found  what  Americans  call  the  "  grouty  Englishman." 
His  digestion  is  better  than  that  of  the  American,  and  hence  he  can  afford  to  be  better 
natured.  If  a  nran  has  to  wrestle  with  a  lamb  chop  three  hours  after  swallowing  it,  his  good 
humor  is  exhausted.  The  contest  in  his  body  leaves  him  no  strength  for  the  battle  with  the 
world.  Foreign  wars  are  not  so  destructive  as  internal.  When  things  sour  on  a  man's 
stomach  they  make  him  sour  with  all  the  world.  Some  of  us  need  not  more  a  "  new  heart " 
•according  to  the  gospel  than  a  "  new  liver  "  according  to  physiology. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


435 


This  season  of  all  others  tests  an  Englishman's  spirits.  It  is  nnprecedented  for  rainy- 
weather,  and  in  some  of  the  chnrches  prayers  had  been  offered  for  a  cessation  of  moisture. 
It  lias  rained  some  time  every  day,  but  this  makes  us  appreciate  the  sun  better  when  it  does 
come  out.  The  clouds,  like  a  veil  to  a  beautiful  face,  add  to  the  attractiveness  by  only  occa- 
sionally being  withdrawn.  When  the  sun  in  summer  shines  from  morning  till  night  with 
intense   glare  we  always  feel   that  he  is  rather  overdoing  the  business.      There  is  nothing 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE   THRONE   ROOM. 


more  exquisite  than  a  cloud  when  it  is  richly  edged  and  irradiated.  A  cloudless  sky  is  a 
bare  wall.  A  sky  hung  with  clouds  in  all  stages  of  illumination  is  a  Louvre  and  Luxem- 
bourg. Clouds  are  pictures  drawn  in  water  colors.  Who  knows  but  that  Raphael  and 
Rubens,  gone  up  higher,  may  sometimes  come  out  and  help  in  the  coloring  of  the  canvas  of 
the  morning  with  brush  of  sunbeam,  putting  within  sight  of  our  eyes  the  constellated  glories 
belonging  to  the  other  side  of  the  Border . 


436 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


Now,  if  in  lliis  shadowed  weather,  Englishmen  can  be  so  genial,  I  wonld  like  to  know 
how  they  are  in  the  usual  snmmer  brightness.  It  is  a  delnsion  that  Englishmen  delight  to 
grumble.  As  near  as  I  can  judge,  each  community  appoints  some  one  to  do  the  grumbling  for 
it,  and  he  becomes  the  champion  grumbler.  One  pulpit  will  do  all  the  grumbling  for  all  the 
pulpits  in  the  town  ;  one  newspaper  all  the  grumbling  for  the  journalists  ;  one  prominent 
citizen  the  grumbling  for  all  the  citizens.  Such  a  one  becomes  the  pet  growler  of  the 
community.  All  the  scandal-mongers  carry  to  him  forage.  They  feed  him  with  all  the 
disagreeable  things  of  the  community.  His  capacity  for  offal  is  awful.  They  rub  him 
down  with  the  ragged  edge  of  a  slander.  Job  describes  this  wild  ass  of  the  forest  as 
snuffing  up  the  east  wind.  Like  others  of  his  kind,  he  eats  thistles.  These  champion 
growlers  of  English    communities  do  all    that   kind  of  work,  leaving  others  nothing  to  do 


MARLBOROUGH    HOUSE,    LONDON,    RESIDENCE    OF   PRINCE   OF   WALES. 

but  to  be  agreeable.  Delightful  arrangement !  Let  us  transfer  it  to  America,  and  have  the 
fault-finding  in  church  and  state  done  by  committee.  Take  the  most  powerful  "bear"  out 
of  Wall  street  and  let  him  do  the  croaking  for  all  the  brokers.  Take  some  ecclesiastic, 
who  has  swallowed  his  religion  crosswise  and  got  it  stranglingly  fast  in  his  wind-pipe,  to 
hunt  down  all  the  heresy,  real  or  fancied.  Get  some  one  newspaper  to  do  all  the  work  of 
mauling  reputations,  exposing  domestic  infelicities  and  reporting  divorce  cases.  Let  one 
female  "gad  about,"  gathering  all  the  gossip,  put  it  up  in  bottles  properly  labeled  and  peddle 
it  about  from  house  to  house  in  small  vials  for  those  who  could  stand  only  a  little,  or  in 
large  bottles,  as  it  may  be  required.  Let  her  be  known  as  the  championess  of  tittle-tattle. 
So  men  and  women  might  delegate  to  one  or  more  the  disagreeables  of  the  w^orld.  And, 
as  at  different  times  America  and  England  have  disputed  with  each  other  for  supremacy 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  437 

with  oar,  and  bat,  and  rifle,  let  the  champion  American  growler  go  forth  to  dispute  with  the 
champion  English  growler  for  the  belt  of  the  world.  Let  the  day  chosen  for  the  contest  be  a 
commingling  of  Scotch  mist  and  English  cloudiness  and  American  drizzle.  Let  them  go 
at  each  other  with  threats  and  annoyances  and  recriminations.  Let  all  fault-finders  the 
world  over  stand  round  the  ring  watching  the  fate  of  the  two  nations.  The  Englishman 
might  draw  the  first  blood,  but  the  American  will  prove  a  full  match  for  him  at  the  last. 
The  struggle  may  be  long  and  fearful,  and  the  excitement  surpass  that  of  Creedmoor 
shooting  and  Ascot  and  Derby  races,  but  I  think  neither  would  gain  the  victory.  Indeed, 
I  would  like  to  see  them  both  go  down  together  in  the  contest  and  both  slain.  Then  would 
perish  from  the  earth  the  bickerings  and  the  suspicions,  thesnarlingsand  the  backbi tings  of 
the  world.  Bury  the  two  champions  in  the  same  grave,  their  clubs  with  tliem,  covering  them 
with  a  bank  of  nettles.  Read  for  their  funeral  ser^'ice  the  report  of  the  stock  market  just 
after  some  great  faihire.  Plant  at  the  head  of  it  a  little  nightshade,  and  at  the  foot  of  it 
a  little  )iiix  vomica. 

For  epitaph  :  "  Here  lies  Complaint  and  Hypercriticism  ;  Born  in  the  year  one  ;  Died  in 
the  year  1895.  May  the  resurrection  trumpet,  that  blows  others  up  into  the  light,  blow 
these  despicable  miscreants  deeper  down  into  oblivion." 

Speaking  of  championship  reminds  me  that  I  was  invited  last  week  to  distribute  the 
English  prizes  to  the  best  rower.      I  regretted  I  could  not  be  present. 

I  honor  muscle.  As  the  world's  heart  improves  its  arm  will  grow  stronger.  In  the 
millennium,  what  oar  we  will  paddle,  what  crickets  we  will  play,  what  wrestlers  we  will 
throw!  We  are  told  in  that  day  there  are  to  be  "  bells  on  the  horses,"  and  that  means  music 
and  innocent  gayety,  and  sleigh  rides  and  swift  teams,  and  liveliness,  and  good  cheer,  and 
tintinnabulation.  That  there  is  betting  at  these  athletic  contests  we  deplore,  but  we  cannot 
stop  healthful  amusements  because  people  abuse  them.  There  are  men  who  bet  on  every- 
thing. Every  time  the  log  was  thrown  from  the  stern  of  our  shij^,  there  were  wagers  lost 
and  won.  Passengers  bet  about  which  foot  in  the  morning  the  captain  would  first  put 
out  of  the  door  of  his  office,  the  right  or  the  left  foot.  Betting  about  the  kind  of  soup  we 
should  have  for  dinner.  Betting  about  the  hour  of  our  arrival.  But  all  this  betting  is  no 
reason  win-  we  should  not  take  steamers  across  the  ocean. 

For  the  cause  of  civilization,  we  will  capture  the  world's  oars,  and  bats,  and  chess- 
boards, and  rifles.  We  want  sanctified  brawn.  When  the  animals  passed  Adam  in  Eden  to 
get  their  names,  they  did  not  dare  even  to  growl  at  that  first  athlete.  Had  he  been  like  unto 
a  modern  specimen  of  weak  delicacy,  instead  of  his  naming  them,  they  might  have  swallowed 
him  up,  giving  him  their  own  name  of  lion  or  bear.  We  want  more  Samsons  ;  not  to 
carry  off"  gates,  but  to  hang  new  ones  ;  not  to  set  foxes'  tails  on  fire,  but  to  put  the  torch  to 
the  world's  shams ;  not  to  pull  down  pillars,  but  to  build  temples  of  righteousness  ;  not  to 
slay  Philistines  with  the  jaw  bone  of  an  ass,  but  to  kill  the  ass  of  the  world's  stupidity  and 
inanition.  While  the  schools  go  on  to  build  the  head  of  the  coming  man,  and  the  church 
goes  on  to  build  his  heart,  let  our  out-door  recreations  go  on  to  build  his  bod}-.  If  that  be 
the  coming  man,  the  sooner  he  comes  the  better. 


We  all  know  something  of  how  England  looks  on  the  upper  side,  but  we  always  had 
a  desire  to  get  under  it  and  look  up.  So  we  accepted  an  invitation  to  plunge  into  one  of 
her  coal  mines  near  Sheffield.  With  the  ladies  of  our  party  we  are  at  the  top  of  the  Nun- 
nery Colliery.     We  have  no  pleasant  anticipations  of  the  descent  into  the  great  depths  of 


438 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


the  earth.  We  put  on  caps  and  overcoats  as  protection  from  the  blackness  of  the  coal. 
Each  one  is  armed  with  a  small  lantern.  After  taking  a  long  breath,  in  case  we  shonld  not 
very  soon  get  another  opportunity,  we  step  into  what  might  be  called  a  rough  elevator,  but 
which  is  called  "  a  cage."  We  stand  in  the  centre  and  throw  our  arms  over  a  bar  and  hold 
fast.  The  sides  of  the  cage  are  not  tightly  inclosed;  and  the  only  door  at  the  entrance  on 
either  side  is  the  body   of   the  guide,  who  stands  there  to  keep  the  passengers  in  their 


CORNER    IN'   THE    HOUSE    OF   CoM?i[ciXS,    I.nNDOX. 

place  in  case  of  panic.  We  are  to  drop  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet.  About  the  capacity  of 
the  machinery  to  drop  us  we  have  no  doubt,  but  the  question  is  about  the  sudden  halt  at  the 
bottom  of  the  mine.  With  steam-power  we  are  lowered,  only  one  rope  of  steel  at  the  top 
of  the  cage  deciding  whether  the  three  of  my  party  and  our  two  guides  shall  .stop  at  the 
foot  of  the  .shaft  or  go  on  to  a  landing  place  in  the  next  world. 

"All  right?"     asked    the  man    standing    on  the  outside  of    the  cage,  with  upward 


inflection  of  voice. 


All 


right," 


answered  one  of  the  guides,  with  downward  inflection. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  439, 

We  had  suggested  to  an  attendant  that  we  were  in  no  hurry  to  get  to  the  bottom,  and  that 
mere  were  several  trains  of  cars  that  could  take  us  in  time  to  our  next  engagement,  and 
therefore  we  might  as  well  be  dropped  a  little  more  deliberately  than  usual.  But  all  that  had 
no  effect.  The  signal  given,  down  we  went.  We  had  the  sensation  of  being  parted  about 
the  waistband.  We  had  fallen  from  hay-mows  in  boyhood  and  from  apple-trees,  and  had 
been  swung  higher  than  we  wanted  to  swing,  but  this  was  a  compression  of  all  those  dis- 
agreeable feelings  into  one  wrench  of  the  ribs  from  the  hip  bone.  We  were  told  it  was  only 
a  minute,  but  it  must  ha\'e  been  a  minute  stretched  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long,  .\rriv- 
ing  at  the  bottom  we  stepped  into  an  arched  room  and  stopped  a  few  minutes  to  get  our  e\es 
and  lungs  used  to  the  darkness  and  the  atmosphere.  Then  one  guide  ahead  and  one  guide 
behind,  and  by  the  dim  light  of  our  lanterns  we  started  through  the  long  black  corridors. 
Past  us  rushed  trains  of  cars  laden  with  coal.  Further  and  further  we  went  into  the  darkness 
that  seemed  the  more  appalling  as  it  parted  for  a  little  at  the  touch  of  our  lights.  Beams 
of  wood  keep  up  the  roofs  of  coal,  while  the  sides  look  as  if  an)-  moment  large  masses  might 
roll  down. 

This  mine,  after  being  worked  twelve  years,  shows  no  signs  of  exhaustion.  Seven 
hundred  men  are  still  plunging  their  crowbars  and  pick-axes.  This  is  what  does  so  much 
to  make  England  great.  This  is  a  chill}-  world,  and  all  nations  must  have  coal.  The  Duke 
of  Norfolk  owns  these  mines,  but  all  England  feels  the  advantage  of  this  indescribable 
weather  hidden  in  the  cellars  of  the  earth. 

Talking  with  the  miners,  they  all  seem  cheerful  and  unharmed  by  the  eternal  shadows 
in  which  so  much  of  their  lives  are  spent.  They  pass  eight  hours  in  the  mine,  and  then 
have  sixteen  hours  out.  A  stout,  tall  miner  by  the  name  of  Henry  Walters,  told  us  that  he 
had  been  working  in  the  mines  fort\--five  \-ears.  There  are  few  men  toiling-  above  o-round 
who  look  as  health)-  as  this  man,  for  near  half  a  century  toiling  under  ground.  But  it  is  a 
hard  life  anyhow  you  make  it.  Standing  down  here  amid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  the 
memories  of  colliery  accidents  at  Blant)-re,  and  Risca,  and  Hartle)-,  come  shuddering  and 
groaning  through  the  wilderness  of  underground  night.  It  will  take  the  stoutest  and  most 
resounding  blast  of  archangelic  trumpet  to  fetch  up  the  bodies  of  the  miners  from  such 
entombment.  For  four  shillings  a  day,  w^hich  of  us  would  like  this  banishment  from 
the  sunshine?  A  sepulchre  is  not  inviting,  whether  built  out  of  coal  or  limestone.  Sitting 
and  walking  all  day  long  in  the  light  that  bathes  the  streets  and  fields,  or  streams  through 
our  windows,  do  we  realize  sympathetically  how  manv  tliousands  of  men  spend  their  lives 
in  the  midnight,  hewing  more  midnight  from  the  sides  of  the  caverns?  But  how  suggestive 
that  out  of  these  chunks  of  darkness  that  tumble  to  the  miners'  feet  we  secure  warmth  and 
light  for  our  homes,  and  momentum  for  our  steamships.  The  brightest  light  of  this  world 
we  chip  out  of  its  darkness.  Out  of  our  own  trials  we  get  warmth  of  synipathy  for  others. 
Our  past  troubles  are  the  black  fuel  which  we  heave  into  the  furnace  of  future  enterprises. 
As  the  miners  cut  the  wealth  of  England  out  of  tlie  caverns,  .so  we  may  hew  out  of  the 
midnight  caverns  of  misfortune  the  brightest  treasures  of  character  and  usefulness. 

But  we  must  .say  good-bye  to  these  underground  workers.  We  get  into  the  "  cage," 
and  prepare  for  ascent.  The  guides  warn  us  that  as  we  near  the  top,  and  the  speed  of  the 
"  cage  "  is  slackened,  the  sensation  will  be  somewhat  distressing.  Sure  enough  !  We  get 
aboard,  throw  onr  arms  over  the  iron  bar  with  a  stout  hug  :  the  signal  of  "All  ready  " 
being  given,  we  fly  upward.  Coming  near  the  top,  at  the  slackening  speed,  it  seems  as  if 
the  rope  must  have  broken,  and  that  we  are  dropping  to  the  bottom  of  the  mine.  A  few 
slight  "  ohs,"  and   the  delusion   passes,  and  we  are  in  the  sunlight.     Bless  God  for  this 


440 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


heavenly  mixture  !  There  is  nothing  like  it.  No  artifice  can  successfnlly  imitate  it.  You 
need  to  spend  a  few  hours  deep  down  in  an  English  mine  to  appreciate  it.  In  the  contrast 
it  seems  more  mellow,  more  golden,  more  entrancing.  You  take  off  your  hat  and  bathe 
in  it.  You  feel  that  the  world  needs  more  of  it.  Sunshine  for  the  body.  Sunshine  for 
the  mind.  Sunshine  for  the  soul.  Sunshine  of  earth.  vSunshine  of  heaven.  In  the  words 
of  the  old  philosopher,  "  Stand  out  of  my  sunshine  !  "  Look  here  !  What  do  we  want  any 
more  of  these  miners'  lamps?  They  might  as  well  be  extinguished.  Their  faint  flicker 
is  absurd  in  the  face  of  the  noonday.  They  were  useful  to  show  us  where  to  tread  among 
the  seams  of  coal.  The}'  were  good  to  light  up  the  genial  faces  of  the  miners  while  we 
talked  to  them  about  their  wages  and  their  families. 

Lamps  are  valuable  in  a  mine.     But   blow   them   out,  now  that   we  stand   under  the 

at  noon,  hangs  pendent  from  the 


chandelier  which  at  twelve  o'clock, 
frescoed  dome  of  these  blue  Eng- 
dips  of  earthly  joy  will  be  sub- 
next  world  strikes  twelve  for  ce- 


lish  heavens.  So  all  the  tallow 
merged  when  the  old  belfry  of  the 
lestial  noon.      Departure  from  this 


ST.    PAUL'S,    FROM    BANKSIDE. 

■world  for  the  good  will  be  only  getting  out  of  the  hard  working  mine  of  earthly  fatigues 
into  the  everlasting  radiance  of  Edenic  midsummer.  Come  now !  Stop  moralizing  and 
drop  that  lantern  of  the  collieries. 

We  will  take  off  our  hats  in  the  presence  of  this  old  ruin  of  Kirk,stall  Abbey  near 
Leeds.  But  what  is  the  use  of  these  Kirkstalls  and  Melroses  and  this  everlasting  round  of 
abbeys  and  monasteries  and  ruined  churches?  Why  are  they  of  any  more  importance  than 
any  other  heap  of  stones  or  bricks  ?  Yoke  the  ox-team  and  plow  tliem  under.  Take 
iconoclastic  hammer,  and  say  dust  to  dust.  Graze  the  sheep  and  cattle  among  the  dishon- 
ored fragments  or  among  the  demolished  abbe\-  at  Meaux.  Caricature  Walter  Scott's 
paroxysm  of  admiration  for  moonlight  on  crumbling  arch. 


Sr.    PALLS   CATHEDKAI.,    LONDON. 


(.44'; 


442  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

No !  no !  there  is  nothing  that  impresses  ns  like  these  old  ruined  abbeys,  and  many  of 
the  occupied  churches  of  to-day  are  not  of  so  much  use.  What  a  perpetual  and  tremendous 
attestation  of  the  better  aspirations  of  the  human  race  !  They  consider  no  arch  too  lofty, 
no  tracery  too  exquisite,  no  architecture  too  ponderous,  or  airy,  or  elaborate,  or  expensive,  to 
express  the  meaning  of  the  soul.  In  letters  of  eternal  granite  they  wrote  it,  and  in  windows 
of  uirdying  masterpiece  they  pictured  their  longing  for  God  and  heaven. 

As  we  sit  down  at  Kirkstall  among  the  fragments  of  this  ecclesiastical  wreck,  floated 
to  us  from  the  past  centuries,  we  are  overpowered  with  historical  reminiscence,  and  the 
abbots  of  seven  and  eight  hundred  years  ago  come  and  sit  down  beside  us.  The  summer  air 
breathing  through  the  deserted  sacristy,  and  interlaced  scrolls,  and  silent  nave  and  choir,  and 
clustered  piers,  makes  us  dreamy,  and  perhaps  we  see  more  than  we  could  see  if  wide 
awake.  The  cohnnns  bearing  the  wounds  of  centuries,  as  we  look  at  them,  heal  into  the 
health  of  their  original  proportion.  By  supernatural  pulley  the  stones  rise  to  their  old 
places.  The  water  of  baptism  sparkles  again  in  the  restored  font.  The  color  of  the  sun- 
light changing,  I  look  up  and  see  the  pictured  glass  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Feeling 
something  cool  under  my  foot,  lo,  it  is  the  ornamented  tile  restored  from  ages  vanished. 

I  hear  a  shuffling,  and  all  the  aisles  are  full  of  the  feet  of  the  living  of  six  hundred 
years  ago,  in  old  style  of  apparel,  and  the  living  of  eight  hundred  years  ago,  and  the  living 
of  fi\'e  hundred  years  ago.  And  I  hear  a  rumbling  of  voices,  and  lo,  the  monks  of  all  the 
past  are  reciting  their  service.  Here  are  Leonard  Windress,  and  William  Lufton,  and  John 
Shaw,  and  Richard  Batson.  And  this  is  Archbishop  Cranmer,  come  more  to  look  after  his 
property  than  to  join  in  the  religious  ceremonies.  And  those  two  persons  in  the  south 
transept  are  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  Peter  As.heton,  a  gentleman  to  whom  she  is  making 
over  the  Abbey.  See  these  pale  and  nervous  souls  kneeling  in  the  penitential  cell  crying 
over  sins  committed  eight  hundred  years  ago.  On  the  buttress  of  that  tower  the  two  letters 
"  W  "  and  "  M  "  seem  to  call  back  William  Marshall,  the  old  abbot  who  ordered  the  inscrip- 
tion, and  while  we  are  talking  with  him  and  deprecate  the  folly  of  a  man  inscribing  his 
own  name  on  a  temple  reared  to  the  Almighty,  a  chime  of  bells,  probably  hung  there  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  long  ago  lost,  >-et  rehung  to-day  by  invisible  hands,  ring  out  first  a 
"  Wedding  March  "  for  all  the  marriages  solemnized  in  that  consecrated  place,  and  then 
strike  a  dirge  for  all  its  burials ;  and,  last  of  all,  rousing  themselves  to  sound  the  jubilee 
of  all  nations,  calling  to  York  Minster  and  St.  Paul,  and  Salisbury,  and  all  the  dead  abbeys 
of  the  past,  and  all  the  living  cathedrals  of  the  present,  to  celebrate  the  millennium  of  the 
world's  deliverance,  and  all  the  chapels,  and  sacristies,  and  choristers,  and  penitential  cells 
respond  Amen  !  Amen  !  And  then  a  shaft  of  light  broke  through  the  arched  window 
horizontally,  and  a  shaft  of  light  dropped  perpendicularly,  and  crossed  each  other,  but  I 
noticed  that  the  perpendicular  shaft  was  longer  than  the  horizontal  shaft,  and  lo !  and 
behold  !   I  saw  that  the  old  Monastery  of  Kirkstall  was  in  attitude  of  worship  crossing  itself. 

My  guide-book  at  this  point  dropped  from  my  hand  and  woke  me,  and  I  found  a  )-oung 
artist  on  a  ladder  copying  the  sculptured  adornments  over  the  west  doorway.  "  What !  "  I  said 
to  myself,  "  must  the  nineteenth  century  copy  the  twelfth  ?  " 

Even  so.  The  highest  and  most  enterprising  art  of  our  day  cannot  crowd  past  the 
windows  and  doors  of  eight  hundred  years  ago.  The  ages  move  in  a  circle,  and  it  ma}-  take 
the  world  two  thousand  years  before  it  can  again. do  the  ribbons  and  skeins  of  granite  in 
York  Minster  or  Kirkstall  Monastery.  While  that  artist  hangs  to  the  ladder,  taking  on  his 
sketch-book  the  tracery  of  the  doorway,  he  makes  us  think  of  the  artist  murderer  who  used 
to  stand  in  that  very  place  doing  the  same  things — sketching  the  doorway  and  stealing  the 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


443 


lieart  of  a  maiden.  He  was  more  desperado  than  artist.  By  night,  with  a  gang  of  outlaws, 
he  played  tlie  highwayman.  A  citizen  with  a  large  snm  of  money,  passing  near  the  abbey, 
was  robbed  and  murdered.  Mary  Clarkson,  the  maiden,  was  in  the  abbey  one  night,  having 
wandered  there  with  troubled  mind.  While  there  she  saw  a  group  of  men  carrying  a  corpse, 
which  they  came  and  buried  in  one  part  of  the  ruined  abbey.  The  hat  of  one  of  them 
blew  o.f  and  rolled  to  Mary  Clarkson's  feet,  where  she  sat  unobserved.  It  was  found  the 
next  day  to  be  the  hat  of  her  lover,  whom  she  had  as  yet  not  suspected  of  evil.  William 
Bedford  was  approaching  the  town  to  claim  his  bride  ;  but  the  true  character  of  the  villain 
having  been  discovered,  the  constables  seized  him,  and  Mar\'  Clarkson,  urged  by  her  own 
sense  of  what  was  right,    appeared   to   testify  against  him.      The  story  of  the  corpse  carried 


FLEET   STREET   AND   ST.    PAUL'S,    LONDON. 


to  Kirkstall  Abbey,  and  the  identification  by  ]\Iary  of  the  hat,  brought  to  the  gallows  the 
artist  desperado.  So,  under  one  ancient,  crumbling,  transcendent  doorway,  meet  devotion 
and  crime,  sin  and  virtue,  the  heavenly  and  the  diabolical. 


*     * 


WILLI.^M    E.    GL.\DSTONE. 

"  Pray  come  to  Hawarden  to-morrow. 

Gladstone." 

That  was  the  telegram  handed  me  in  the  Grand  Hotel,  London.  I  was  on  my  way 
home  to  America.  Two  or  three  days  before  taking  steamer  for  New  York,  the  above 
delightful  invitation  came  from  Mr.  Gladstone.  I  had  seen  him  a  few  years  before 
in    church    at    the    baptism    of    his    grandchild,  but    had    no  communication  with   him, 


(444) 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY 


445 


although  our  eyes  had  met,  and  in  the  crowded  church  I  moved  over  to  where  I 
thought  I  would  meet  hiui,  aud  m\-  wife  said  that  he  uioved  over  to  where  I  had 
stood  aud  looked  arouud  for  uie,  for  we  all  saw  he  woudered  who  I  was,  as  he 
intimated  when  I  saw  him,  two  or  three  years  afterward.  Now,  Hawarden,  or  Har- 
den, as  they  pronounce  it  in  England,  is  five  or  six  miles  from  Chester,  and  so  I 
took  it  on  my  way  from  London  to  the  steamer.  I  was  met  by  a  servant  at  the 
door  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  castle 
and  admitted  into  a  room, 
where  I  waited  not  more  than 
five  minutes,  when  Mr.  Glad- 
stone entered  with  lithe  and 
elastic  step  and  a  cordiality  of 
manner  that  evidenced  itself  in 
both  hands  put  out  in  welcom- 
ing grasp.  He  immediately 
spoke  of  the  wide  publication 
of  my  sermons  in  Great  Britain 
and  other  lands,  and  asked  me 
more  questions  about  them  than 
I  could  easily  answer.  He  soon 
proposed  a  walk  through  his 
estate,  and,  calling  his  dog  to 
follow,  we  started  not  so  much 
for  a  walk  as  a  run.  He  is  the 
only  man  I  ever  walked  with 
that  walked  fast  enough.  We 
ran  up  and  down  the  hills  of 
his  splendid  park  while  he 
showed  me  here  and  there  the 
smooth  stumps  of  the  trees  he 
had  cut  down,  and  pointed  out 
one  where  an  English  lord  visit- 
ing him  had  cut  down  a  tree, 
but  the  exertion  was  too  much 
for  him,  and  he  died  of  heart 
disease.  Mr.  Gladstone  re- 
marked, "  No  man  who  has 
heart  disease  ought  to  use  the 
axe.  Now  that  stump  is  the 
place  where  my  friend  used  the 
axe  and  died."     While  talking 

of  trees  he  told  with  great  glee  of  a  fabulous  story  concerning  a  tree  in  Califor- 
nia, how  two  men  were  cutting  on  the  opposite  sides  of  it  for  many  days,  each 
one  not  knowing  that  any  one  else  was  in  the  forest,  until,  their  work  nearly 
done,  they  met  at  the  heart  of  the  tree.  Kindred  to  that,  he  .said,  was  the  story 
of  the  fish  in  one  of  our  American  lakes  so  large  that  when  a  fish  was  taken  out  of 
the  water    the   lake  'was    perceptibly    lowered.     Ever   and    anon    Mr.    Gladstone    would 


GLADSTONE    IN    HAW.AKDHN    WOOD. 


446  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

call  his  clog  by  name,  and,  picking  up  a  stick,  would  spit  upon  it  and  hurl  it  far 
away,  and  as  the  dog  would  run  and  fetch  it,  Mr.  Gladstone  would  say,  "  Look  at 
that  dog's  eye.  Is  he  not  a  fine  fellow  ?  "  But  for  the  most  of  the  time  Mr.  Gladstone 
was  engaged  in  remarks  on  important  political  or  religions  topics.  In  the  velocity 
and  variety  of  his  questions  I  never  heard  his  like.  He  has  great  interest  in  trees, 
some  of  them  four  and  five  hundred  years  old,  and  he  would  stop  here  and  there  to 
give  me  the  lineage,  the  history,  and  characteristics  of  a  tree.  Here  and  there  were 
old  and  decrepit  trees  bandaged,  their  arms  in  splints.  "  Look  at  that  sycamore," 
said  he.  ''Did  you  find  in  the  Holy  Land  a  sycamore  more  thrifty  than  that?" 
He  said,  "  Because  I  wield  the  axe  I  am  sometimes  represented  as  destroying  trees ; 
I   only  destroy   the   bad   to    help  the  good." 

He  spoke  with  evident  pleasure  of  the  fact  that  he  had  at  different  times  thrown  ojDen 
his  park  to  the  people,  and  continued,  "  They  never  abused  the  opportunity." 

He  asked  with  a  good  deal  of  emphasis,  "  Is  there  not  danger  in  America  from  the 
increase  of  divorce.  I  hear  that  in  your  South  Carolina  there  is  no  divorce  at  all.  That, 
I  believe,  is  the  right  idea.  Remarriage  ought  to  be  forbidden  for  divorced  persons.  If 
there  were  no  possibility  of  remarriage  there  would  be  no  divorce." 

While  on  positively  religious  subjects  he  said,  "  I  read  something  in  Augustine  when 
I  was  a  boy  which  struck  me  with  great  force,  and  I  still  feel  its  force,  namely,  the  asser- 
tion '  When  the  human  race  rebelled  against  God  the  lower  nature  of  man  as  a  consequence 
rebelled  against  the  higher  nature.'  "  I  asked  him  if  the  passage  of  the  years  confirmed  or 
weakened  his  faith  in  Christianity.  At  the  putting  of  this  question,  although  we  were 
going  at  great  speed,  he  halted  on  the  hillside  and  looking  me  in  the  eyes  with  earnestness 
and  solemnity  that  made  me  quake  as  he  replied,  "  Dr.  Talmage,  my  only  hope  for  the 
world  is  in  the  bringing  of  the  human  mind  into  contact  with  the  divine  revelation. 
Nearly  all  the  men  at  the  top  in  our  country  are  believers  in  the  Christian  religion.  The 
four  leading  physicians  of  England  are  devout  Christian  men."  Then  he  called  their 
names  and  among  them  the  name  of  his  own  family  physician.  He  went  on  to  say, 
"  I  have  been  forty-seven  years  in  the  Cabinet  of  my  country,  and  during  those  times  I  have 
been  associated  with  sixty  of  the  chief  intellects  of  the  century,  and  I  can  think  of  but  five 
of  the  sixty  who  were  not  professors  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  those  five  were  all 
respecters  of  it.  Talk  about  the  questions  of  the  day  !  There  is  only  one  question,  and 
that  is  how  to  apply  the  Gospel  to  all  circumstances  and  conditions.  It  can  and  will  correct 
all  that  is  wrong.  I  am,  after  a  long  and  busy  life,  more  than  ever  confirmed  in  my  faith 
in  Christianity." 

"  Have  you  any  of  the  terrible  agnosticism  in  America  ?  I  am  glad  that  none  of  my 
children  are  afflicted  with  it." 

So  the  conversation  went  on.  Before  reaching  the  castle  Mr.  Gladstone  made  a  remark 
which  led  me  to  ask  him  if  he  did  not  think  that  sometimes  people  had  a  poor  religion  or 
no  religion  at  all  in  their  heads  and  yet  had  a  good  religion  in  their  hearts,  and  he  replied : 
"  I  have  no  doubt  of  it,  and  I  can  give  you  an  illustration.  Lord  Napier  was  buried  yester- 
day at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral."  I  said,  "  Yes,  I  was  present  at  the  obsequies."  "  Well,"  said 
Mr.  Gladstone,  "  after  the  war  in  Africa  was  over  Lord  Napier  was  here  for  a  few  days  at 
the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Gladstone  and  myself  and  we  were  walking  in  this  very  place  where 
we  are  now  walking  and  Lord  Napier  gave  me  this  remarkable  incident.  He  said  :  '  When 
we  were  about  to  leave  Africa  we  had  a  soldier  with  a  broken  leg  and  we  did  not  know 
what  to  do  with  him.     He  was  too  sick  to  lake  along  with  us,  and  we  did  not  like  to  leave 


RIGHT  HON.    WM.    E.    GLADSTONE. 


(447) 


448  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

him  among  barbarians.  So  I  said  :  "  Fetcli  him  along  anyhow  ;  better  have  him  die  on 
the  way  thau  leave  him  among  these  savages."  We  took  him  part  of  the  wav,  bnt  the 
poor  man  was  so  very  ill  we  could  not  take  him  any  further.  So  I  went  to  a  woman,  who, 
though  a  barbarian,  was  distinguished  for  her  kindness,  and  I  said  to  her  :  "  We  have  with 
us  a  soldier  with  a  broken  leg  and  we  must  leave  him,  and  will  you  take  care  of  him,"  and 
I  offered  her  ten  times  as  much  money  as  you  would  have  supposed,  hoping  bv  excess  of 
pay  to  secure  for  him  great  kindness.  And  what  do  you  suppose  she  said  to  me  ?  She 
■said  :  "  No  !  I  will  not  take  care  of  this  sick  soldier  for  the  money  you  offer  me.  I  have 
no  need  of  the  money.  My  father  and  mother  have  a  comfortable  tent,  and  I  have  a  good 
tent,  and  why  should  I  take  the  money.  I  will  not  take  care  of  the  soldier  for  the  money, 
but  if  you  will  leave  him  here  I  will  take  care  of  him  for  the  sakr.  of  the  love  of  God.''''  '  " 
Mr.  Gladstone  said  to  me  :  "  Do  you  not  think  that  was  religion  ?"  I  said  :  "  Yes  !  that  is 
good  enough  religion  for  me." 

Speaking  of  his  new  crusade  for  home  rule,  he  said  :  "  It  seems  the  dispensation 
of  God  that  I  should  be  in  this  battle.  It  is  not  to  my  taste.  I  never  had  any  option 
in  the  matter.  I  dislike  contest,  but  I  could  not  decline  this  controversy  without  dis- 
grace. When  Ireland  showed  herself  ready  to  adopt  a  righteous  constitution,  and  do 
her  full  duty,  I  hesitated  not  an  hour."  When  I  rallied  him  on  his  speech  two  nights 
defore  at  Chester,  when  he  said  the  increase  of  the  American  Navy  might  make  im- 
perative the  increase  of  the  British  Navy,  he  said  :  "  Oh,  Americans  like  to  hear  the 
plain  truth.  The  fact  is  that  the  tie  between  these  two  nations  will  become  closer 
and  closer." 

When  I  protested  that  on  that  cold  day  he  had  not  wrapped  himself  in  thicker 
apparel,  he  having  nothing  on  him  more  than  would  be  proper  for  a  warm  room, 
except  a  thin  cape  reaching  to  the  elbows,  he  replied,  "  I  need  nothing  more  on  me. 
I  must  keep  my  legs  free." 

By  this  time  we  had  reached  the  back  door  of  his  castle,  and  we  entered,  and 
he  called  his  servant  to  bring  me  tea  and  a  bountiful  supply  for  an  appetite 
sharpened  by  that  which  had  been  not  so  much  a  walk  as  a  run  through  Ha- 
warden.  After  refreshment  he  took  me  into  his  librarv  containing  such  wealth  of 
books  as  few  individuals  have  ever  known,  and  arranged  by  a  method  invented  by 
himself.  He  showed  me  literary  works  which  were  presented  him  by  Americans, 
and  a  portfolio  of  pictures  presented  by  an  American.  He  said,  "Outside  of  America 
there  is  no  one  who  is  bound  to  love  it  more  than  I  do.  You  see  I  cannot  move 
outside  of  the  evidences  of  her  kindness."  He  then  gave  me  some  books  and 
pamphlets  by  himself,  and  his  translation  of  "Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul,"  into  the 
Greek  language.  j\trs.  Gladstone  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the  house  for  some 
engagement  before  our  return,  but  she  left  her  regards  and  through  her  servant 
asked  me  to  leave  my  autograph.  Mr.  Gladstone  rummaged  the  rooms  for  a  pho- 
tograph of  her,  and,  not  finding  it,  took  me  to  a  room  containing  a  beautiful  piece 
of  sculpture  representing  Mrs.  Gladstone  at  about  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  said, 
"She  is  only  two  years  younger  than   I,   but   in  complete  health  and  vigor." 

The  time  for  my  departure  arrived.  I  must  the  ne.xt  day  take  steamer  for  America. 
When  I  expressed  to  IMr.  Gladstone  the  wish  that  he  might  come  to  America  and 
lold  him  the  reception  he  would  receive  from  all  classes,  he  said,  "  I  am  too  old  now." 
To  my  remark,  "  You  have  often  crossed  the  English  Channel,  and  that  is  worse  than 
the  Atlantic,"  he  replied,  ''  Oh,  I  am   not  afraid  of  the  ocean."     He  followed  me  to   the 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN  TO-DAY. 


449 


door  bareheaded,  his  white  hair  flowinji;  in  the  wind,  I  opposing  his  coining  lest  he 
take  cold.  Standing  there  on  the  doorste^D  he  said,  in  substance,  "  Tell  jour  country 
of  my  high  appreciation  of  your  great  nation,  and  that  I  am  wishing  for  it  every 
increasing  prosperity,  and  that  I  watch  every  turn  in  its  history  with  a  heart  of 
warmest  admiration;"  his  expressions  of  kindness  not  closing  until  we  were  compelled 
to   say  "  Good-bye." 

So  we  parted.  Whatever  ma>-  be  the  difference  of  opinion  with  regard  to  Mr. 
Gladstone's  politics,  all  the  world  must  admit  him  to  be  not  only  one  of  the  most 
wonderful    men    of   this    century,  but    of  all    time. 


JOHN     RUSKIN. 

The  sentence  contains  more  happiness  than  I  can  easily  make  people  understand  when 
I  say  that  I  saw  John  Ruskin.  I  wanted  to  see  him  more  than  any  other  man,  crowned  or 
uncrowned.  He  has  done  more  for  ele- 
vated literature  than  any  man  of  the 
century.  When  I  was  in  England  at 
other  times  Air.  Ruskin  was  always  ab- 
sent or  sick,  but  this  time  I  found  him. 
I  was  visiting  the  Lake  districts  of  Eng- 
land, the  enchanted  ground  trodden  by 
Wordsworth  and  Walter  Scott  and  Cole- 
ridge and  Mrs.  Hemans. 

I  visited  the  house  where  Christopher 
North  (Professor  Wilson)  spent  his  sum- 
mers. I  went  into  the  roon:  where  De 
Quincy  ate  opium  and  wrote  for  all  the 
world.  I  talked  with  people  who  remem- 
bered Wordsworth  and  saw  Christoplier 
North  row  across  Windemere  and  take 
herculean  exercise  among  the  hills.  But 
one  afternoon  I  took  a  ride  that  will  be 
forever  memorable.  I  said,  "  Drive  out 
to  Mr.  Ruskiu's  place,"  which  was  some 
eight  miles  away.  The  landlord  from 
whom  I  got  the  conveyance  said,  "  You 
will  not  be  able  to  see  Mr.  Ruskin.  No 
one  sees  him  or  has  seen  him  for  years." 
Well,  I  have  a  way  of  keeping  on  when  I 
start.  After  an  hour  and  a  half  of  a 
delightful  ride,  we  entered  the  gates  of 
Mr.  Ruskin's  home.      The    door   of  the  J°"^'  ''^'''''^'  *^  '  ^^"'  "•^'• 

vine-covered,  picturesque  house  was  open  and  I  stood  in  the  hallway.  Handing  my  card 
to  a  servant  I  said  I  wished  to  see  Mr.  Ruskin.  The  reply  was,  "  Mr.  Ruskin  is  not  in, 
and  he  never  sees  any  one."  Disappointed,  I  turned  back,  took  the  carriage  and  went  down 
the  road.  I  said  to  the  driver,  "  Do  you  know  Mr.  Ruskin  when  you  see  him  ?"  "  Yes," 
29 


450  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

said  lie,  "  but  I  liave  not  seen  him  for  years."  We  rode  on  a  few  moments  when  the 
driver  cried  ont  to  me,  "  There  lie  comes  now."  In  a  minute  we  had  arrived  to  where 
Mr.  Rnskin  was  walking  toward  lis.  I  alighted  and  he  greeted  me  with  a  quiet  manner 
and  a  genial  smile.  He  looked  like  a  great  man  worn  out.  Beard  full  and  tangled.  Soft 
hat  drawn  down  over  his  forehead.  Signs  of  physical  weakness  with  determination  not 
to  show  it.  His  valet  walked  beside  him  ready  to  help  or  direct  his  steps.  He  deprecated 
any  remarks  appreciatory  of  his  wondrous  services.  He  had  the  appearance  of  one  whose 
work  is  completely  done  and  is  waiting  for  the  time  to  start  homeward.  He  is  in  appear- 
ance more  like  myself  than  any  person  I  ever  saw,  and  if  I  should  live  to  his  age  the  like- 
ness will  be  complete.  I  could  easily  understand  how  the  first  time  I  saw  Dr.  John  Brown, 
the  Edinburgh  essayist, he  greeted  me  with  the  exclamation,  "  There  comes  my  friend  John 
Ruskin." 

Recent  reports  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  physical  decadence  have  probably  been  written  by 
people  who  have  not  seen  him,  and  have  guessed  the  worst.  But  I  do  not  think  he  will 
ever  write  another  paragraph,  or  receive  another  call,  until  there  comes  to  him  the  call  of 
world-transferrence.  He  is  not  so  old  by  ten  years  as  some  eminent  Englishmen  wdio  are 
still  inactive  life,  their  tongue  and  pen  as  powerful  in  the  eighties  as  in  the  forties.  Yet 
he  has  written  a  whole  library  and  endured  his  full  share  of  misrepresentation.  But  he  is 
through,  magnificentl}-  through.  He  will  continue  to  saunter  along  the  English  lanes  very 
slowly,  his  valet  by  his  side,  for  a  year  or  two  and  then  will  fold  his  hands  for  the  last  sleep. 
Then  the  whole  world  will  wake  up  to  speak  words  of  gratitude  and  praise  which  it  denied 
him  all  through  tlie  years  in  which  he  was  laboriously  writing  "  Modern  Painters,"  "  The 
Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,"  "  The  Stones  of  Venice,"  and  "The  Ethics  of  the  Dust." 
We  cannot  imagine  what  the  world's  literature  would  have  been  if  Thomas  Carlyle  and 
John  Ruskin  had  never  entered  it.  The  day  or  night  a  man  intelligently  meets  Mr. 
Ruskin's  works  starts  a  new  era  in  his  history.  The  selections  from  his  writings  which  I 
picked  up  in  Wynkoop's  store,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  the  early  years  of  my  ministry  I  shall 
never  forget.  I  read  that  book  under  the  trees,  the  best  place  to  read  it.  He  was  the  first 
competent  interpreter  of  the  language  of  leaves,  of  clouds,  of  rivers,  of  lakes,  of  seas.  He 
did  for  the  hitherto  untranslated  hieroglyphics  of  the  natural  world  what  Champollion  did 
for  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  Blessed  the  da}-  when  I  read  the  first  chapter  of  John  Ruskin's 
books  !     Blessed  the  beautiful  day  when  he  took  my  hand  and  put  upon  me  his  benediction! 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

SCOTLAND. 

/'""^vT  EVEN  o'clock  in  tlie  morning,  at  a  window  looking  out  upon  the  River  Tay, 
>^^^^[,  which  is  the  Rhine  of  Scotland.  When  the  Romans,  many  centuries  ago, 
k  ^%  first  caught  sight  oF  it  they  exclaimed:  '■^  Eccc  Tiber .' ^'  Within  sight  of 
J^^-—^  scenerv  which  Walter  Scott  made  immortal  in  his  "  Fair  I\Iaid  of  Perth." 
The  heather  running  up  the  hills  to  join  the  morning  cloud  of  the  same  color,  so  that  you 
can  hardlv  tell  which  is  heather,  and  which  is  cloud,  beauty  terrestrial  and  celestial, 
intertwined,  interlocked,  interspun,  intermarried.  The  incense  of  a  gentleman's  garden 
burning  toward  heaven  in  the  fires  of  the  fresh  risen  sim.  Ivy  on  the  old  walls  ;  rockeries 
dashed  with  waterfall,  and  fringed  with  ferns ;  hawthorn  hedges  which  halt  the  eye  only 
long  enough  to  admire  before  it  leaps  over.  At  the  end  of  each  path  a  stately  yew,  trimmed 
up  to  the  point  like  a  spear,  standing  sentinel.  The  kennels  under  the  wall  yawning  with 
terriers  and  fox-hounds. 

"  Two  dogs  of.  black  St.  Hubert's  breed, 
Unmatched  for  courage,  breath  and  speed." 

The  glades,  the  farmsteads,  the  copses,  the  soft  plush  of  the  grass,  which  has  reveled 
in  two  months  of  uninlernipted  moisture.  Seated  in  an  arm-chair  that  an  ancient  king 
might  in  vain  have  wished  for,  writing  on  a  table  that  fairly  writhes  with  serpents  and 
dragons  and  gorgons  done  in  mahogany.  What  a  time  and  place  to  take  pen  and  paper  for 
communication  with  my  Amencan  readers  ! 

Before  I  forget  it  I  must  tell  you  how  I  baptized  a  Scotch  baby  down  in  the  centre  of 
England.  It  was  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  at  the  close  of  a  service,  and  in  the  private 
parlor  of  a  hotel,  that  a  rap  was  heard  at  the  door.  Word  came  in  that  a  young  man  was 
there  desiring  me  to  officiate  at  a  baptism.  We  thought  that  there  must  be  some  mistake 
about  it,  and  so  dela}-ed  making  otir  appearance. 

About  five  minutes  before  the  starting  of  the  rail  train  we  came  to  the  door  of  the  private 
parlor  and  confronted  a  young  man  in  a  high  state  of  excitement.  He  said  that  he  had 
come  all  the  way  from  Scotland  to  have  us  baptize  his  child.  W^e  told  him  the  thing  was 
impossible  for  the  train  would  go  in  five  minutes.  But  this  only  made  the  man  more 
intense.  So  we  said,  "  W'here  is  the  baby  ?  We  have  no  time  to  wait."  The  yoting  man 
rushed  down  stairs,  and  returned  with  the  mother  and  child.  As  she  unrolled  the  boy  from 
her  plaid  there  came  to  sight  the  prophecy  of  a  genuine  Roderick  Dhu.  We  wanted  an 
hour  to  baptize  a  boy  like  that. 

Scotch  all  over !  What  cheek  bones  and  what  a  fist.  Give  him  plenty  of  porridge 
and  the  air  of  Loch  Vennachar,  and  what  a  man  he  will  make — Chief  ot  Clan  Alpine  !  I 
asked  the  mother  what  she  was  going  to  call  him,  and  she  said  "  Douglass  !  "  What  a  name  ! 
Stiggestive  of  victory,  defeat,  warrior  blades,  and  gates  of  Stirling  Castle  ! 

"  Ere  Douglasses  to  ruin  driven 

Were  exiled  from  their  native  Heaven  !  " 

But  it  was  no  time  to  indulge  in  Scottish  reminiscences.  If  that  infant  Highlander 
was  to  be  baptized  by  us  it  must  be  within  the  next  sixty  seconds.     We  had  the  father  and 

(451) 


452 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


tlie  mother,  and  the  bab)-  and  the  minister,  but  no  water!  We  hastily  scanned  all  the  vases 
and  Clips  in  the  room.  Tliere  was  no  liquid  in  all  the  place  save  the  cocoa  left  over  from 
our  evening  repast.  That  would  not  do.  We  have  known  people  so  stupid  and  dull  and 
bilious  all  their  lives  you  might  imagine  they  had  been  baptized  in  cocoa.  But  we  would 
_have  no  part  in  such  a  ceremony. 
[  "  Get  some  water  in  a  second  !"  wc  demanded.     From  the  next  room  the  anxious  father 


HOUSE   OF   JOHN    KNOX,    EDINBURGH. 


ireturned  in  a  moment,  liringing  a  glass  of  it,  clear,  bright  water,  fit  to  christen  a  Douglass, 
opaline  as  though  just  dipped  by  Rob  Roy  from  Loch  Katrine.  "Douglass!"  we  called 
;him  as  the  water  flashed  upon  the  lad's  forehead  quick  and  bright  as  the  gleam  of  Fitz- 
James'  blade  at  Inverlochy.  We  had  no  time  for  making  out  a  formal  certificate,  but  only 
the  word§,  "Baptism,  July  21st,"  the  name  of  Douglass,  and  our  own.     As  we  darted  for  the 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


453 


cars,  the  young  man  submerged  us  witli  thanks,  and  put  in  our  hands  as  a  baptismal  gift, 
tiie  "  Life  of  Robert  McCheyne,"  the  glorious  Scotcliman  who  preached  himself  to  death 
at  thirty  years  of  age,  but  whose  brave  and  godly  words  are  still  resounding  clear  as  a 
pibroch  among  the  Scotch  hills. 

As  we  had  but  little  time  to  pray  at  the  baptism,  we  now  ejaculate  the  wish  that  the 
subject  unrolled  that  night 
from  the  smiling  Scotch 
mother's  plaid  may  have  the 
courage  of  a  John  Knox, 
the  romance  of  a  Walter 
Scott,  the  naturalness  of 
the  Ettrick  Shepherd,  the 
self-sacrifice  of  a  Hugh  Mc- 
Kail,  the  physical  strength 
of  a  Christopher  North,  and 
the  goodness  of  a  Robert 
McCheyne.  In  other  words, 
may  he  be  the  quintessence 
of  all  great  Scotchmen. 

There  is  something 
about  the  Scotch  character, 
whether  I  meet  it  in  New 
York,  or  London,  or  Perth, 


tliat  thrills  me  through  and 
through.  Perhaps  it  may 
be  because  I  have  such  a 
strong  tide  of  Scotch  blood 
in  my  own  arteries.  Next 
to  mv  own  beloved  country 
give  me  Scotland  for  resi- 
dence and  grave.  The  peo- 
ple are  in  such  downright 
earnest.  There  is  such  .>. 
roar  in  their  mirth,  like  a 
tempest  in  "The  Trossacks." 
Take  a  Glasgow  audienc 
and  a  speaker  must  ha\x- 
his  feet  well  planted  on  the 
platform  or  he  will  be  o\'er- 
mastered  by  the  sympathy  of 
the  populace.  They  are  not 
ashamed  to  cry,  with  their 
broad  palms  wiping  away  the  tears,  and  they  make  no  attempt  at  suppression  of  glee:. 
The\-  do  not  simper,  or  snicker,  or  chuckle.  Throw  a  joke  into  a  Scotchman's  ear  aud- 
it rolls  down  to  the  centre  of  his  diaphragm  and  then  spreads  out  both  ways,  toward" 
foot  and  brow,  until  the  emotion  becomes  volcanic,  and  from  the  longest  hair  on  the  crowns 
of   the  head  to  the  tip  end  of  the  nail  on  the  big  toe  there  is  paroxysm  of  cachinnation. 


KNOX    CHURCH,    WHERE    1    PREACHED. 


454 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


No  half  and  half  about  the  Scotch  character.  What  he  hates,  he  hates  ;  what  he 
likes,  he  likes.  And  he  lets  you  know  it  right  away.  He  goes  in  for  Lord  Salisbury 
or  William  E.  Gladstone,  and  is  altogether  Liberal  or  Tory.  His  politics  decided,  his 
religion  decided  ;  get  him  right,  and  he  is  magnificently  right  ;  get  him  wrong,  and  he  is 
awfully  wrong.  A  Scotchman  seldom  changes.  By  the  time  he  has  fairly  landed  on  his 
feet  in  this  world  he  has  made  up  his  mind,  and  he  keeps  it  made  up.  If  he  dislikes  a  fiddle 
in  church,  you  cannot  smuggle  it  in  under  the  name  of  a  bass  viol.  We  like  persistence. 
Life  is  so  short  that  a  man  cannot  afford  very  often  to  change  his  mind.  If  the  Israelites  in 
the  wilderness  had  had  a  few  Scotch  leaders,  instead  of  wandering  about  for  forty  years,  they 
would,  in  three  weeks,  have  got  to  the  promised  land,  or  somewhere  else  just  as  decided. 


BALMORAL   CASTLE,    SCOTTISH    R?;SIDENCE   OF   QUEEN   VICTORIA,    FORTY-KOrR    MILES    FROM    ABERDEEN. 

But  national  characteristics  are  gradually  giving  way.  The  Tweed  is  drying  up.  Tlie 
Atlantic  Ocean  under  steam  pressure  is  becoming  a  Fulton  Ferry.  When  I  asked  John 
Bright  if  he  was  ever  coming  to  America,  he  said  :  "  No  ;  America  comes  to  me  !"  Besides 
that,  American  breadstuffs  and  American  meat  must  hav^e  its  effect  on  European  character. 
A.11  careful  observers  know  that  what  men  eat  mightily  affects  their  character.  The  mis- 
sionary among  the  Indians,  compelled  to  live  on  animal  food,  gets  some  of  the  nature  of 
the  aborigines,  whether  he  will  or  not.  The  steamers  coming  to  Glasgow  bring  great 
cargoes  of  American  meat  to  Scotland.  The  meat  of  animals  butchered  in  America  is 
kept  on  steamers  in  a  cool  draught  especially  arranged  for  that  purpose,  and  the  meat 
market  of  Scotland  is  being  revolutionized.  The  Scotchman  eating  American  beef  and 
American   mutton    and  American  venison  becomes  partially  American. 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


455 


Englishmen  on  platforms  and  in  the  newspapers  deplore  the  coming  in  of  so  much 
American  breadstnffs.  Because  of  the  failure  of  English  crops  for  two  or  three  j'ears  this 
is  becoming  more  and  more  so.  The  Englishman  eating  American  wheat  and  American 
rye  and  American  corn  must  become  in  part  Americanized.  And  here  is  an  element  of 
safety  which  political  economists  would  do  dwell  to  recognize.  The  cereals  and  the  meats 
of  one  nation  becoming  the  food  of  other  nations,  it  prophesies  assimilation  and  brother- 
hood. It  will  be  very  difficult  for  American  beef  to  fight  American  beef,  and  American 
mutton  to  fight  American  mutton,  and  American  corn  to  fight  American  corn,  and  though 
it  may  be  found  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  world  is  gradually  sitting  down  at 
one  table,  and  the  bread  will  be  m.ide  of  Michigan  wheat,  and  it  will  be  cut  with  Sheffield 
knives.  The  rice  will  be 
brought  from  Carolina 
swamps,  and  cooked  with 
Newcastle  coal,  and  set  on 
the  table  in  Burslem  pot- 
tery, while  the  air  comes 
through  the  window  uphol- 
stered with  Nottingham 
lace.  And  Italy  will  pro- 
vide the  raisins,  and  Brazil 
the  nuts,  and  all  nations 
add  their  part  to  the  uni- 
versal festivity.  What  a 
time  of  accord  when  all  the 
world  breakfasts  and  dines 
and  sups  together. 

What  is  that  neighing 
of  horses,  and  bleating  of 
sheep,  and  barking  of  dogs 
now  coming  to  my  ears? 
It  is  the  Highland  Show. 
The  best  animals  of  Scot- 
land are  in  convention  a 
little  distance  away.  Earls 
and  marquises  yesterday 
judged  between  them.  Bet- 
ter keep  your  American 
cattle,  horses,  and  sheep,  and 
dogs  at  home,  unless  you  want  them  cast  into  the  shade.  What  a  spectacle  !  I  suppose 
these  are  the  kind  of  cattle  and  horses  that  made  up  the  chief  stock  in  Paradise  before  they 
had  been  abused  of  the  wicked  centuries. 

Examine  those  which  have  won  distinction  and  a  ribbon.  Rear  Admiral,  Knicker- 
bocker, Prince  Alfred  and  Harold,  from  Berwick-on-Tweed,  among  the  shorthorns.  Liddes- 
daleand  Lord  Walter  among  the  Galloways  ;  The  Monarch  among  the  polled  Angus  cattle  ; 
Morning  Star,  King  Carthus  and  Scottish  Chief  among  the  Ayrshires.  This  is  the  poetry 
of  beef;  the  "Iliad,"  the  "Odyssey,"  the  "  Paradise  Regained"  of  cattledom. 

Pass  on  to  the  horses,  and  see  Conqueror,  and  Luck's  All,  and  Star  of  the  West. 


THK    QUKEN'.S   OWN    CAMERON    HIGHLANDERS. 


456 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


St.  John  saw  in  vision  wliite  horses,  and  bay  horses,  and  black  liorses,  and  one  might 
think  tliat  some  of  these  in  tlie  Highland  Show  had  broken  ont  of  the  pasture-fields  of 
heaven.  One  of  these  might  well  have  stood  for  Job's  photograph,  "  his  neck  clothed  with 
thunder."     What  hunters  and  roadsters. 

Pass  on  to  the  sheep  and  see  the  wonderful  .specimens  of  Cheviots  and  Dinmonts,  some 
of  them  so  covered  with  wealthy  fleece  thej-  can  hardly  see  out,  nature  having  "  pulled  the 
wool  over  their  eves." 

Pass  on  and  stir  up  these  fowls,  and  hear  them  crow  and  cackle  and  chick.  Turkey 
gobblers,  with  unbounded  resources  of  strut,  and  ducks,  of  unlimited  quack,  and  bantams, 
full  of  small  fight,  and  Cochin-Chinas,  and  Brahmapootras,  and  Hamburgs,  and  Dorkings, 
suggesting  the  grand  possibilities  of  the  world's  farmyard. 

And  dogs  !     I  cannot  stop  to  describe  the  bewitching  beauty  of  the  English- and  Gordon 

setters,  and  Dalmatians 
and  retrievers,  and 
pointers,  and  Scotch 
terriers,  Sk)-e  and  rat, 
and  that  beautiful  joke 
of  a  dog — the  English 
pug — which  I  can 
never  see  without 
bursting  into  laughter, 
and  the  collies,  now 
becoming  the  fashion- 
able dogs  of  Europe, 
their  heads  patted  by 
lords  and  ladies.  How 
I  would  like  to  bring 
to  America  a  whole 
kennel  of  them.  St. 
John,  in  Revelations, 
put  the  dogs  on  the 
outside  of  the  gate  of 
heaven,  saving:  "With- 
out are  dogs  !  "  If  he 
could  have  seen  these 
I  think  they  might  at  least  lie 


RO.SS  CASTLE, 


-iTXAND,  AW    IRISH   JAIXTIN<.    L  A 1- 


of  the   Highland  Show  he  would  have  invited  them  in. 
down  under  the  king's  table. 


* 

*        * 


We  have  sailed  on  the  Rhine,  the  Thames,  the  Hudson,  the  St.  John,  but  cut  out  of  all  the 
other  days  of  our  life  for  entrancement  is  this  day  when  on  the  steamer  Star  o'  Gowrie,  we  sail 
the  Tay.  Somewhat  may  depend  on  our  especial  mood.  We  went  on  board  the  Scotch 
river  at  Dundee.  We  had  passed  the  night  and  previous  day  in  one  of  those  castles  of 
beauty,  a  .Scotch  gentleman's  home,  a  place  that  led  us  to  ask  the  owner,  as  we  stood  in  the 
doorwaA' : 

"Do  you  suppose  heaven  will  be  much  brightc-r  than  this?" 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


457 


He  said,  "  Yes  !   for  there  will  be  no  sorrow  there." 

Then  we  thoujiht  can  it  be  possible  that  sorrow  ever  looked  out  of  these  windows 
commanding'  such  landscape,  or  ever  set  foot  amid  these  royal  flower-beds,  or  rode  up  this 
kingly  carriage  way?  We  had  visited  the  church  of  Robert  ]\Iurray  McCheyue,  stood  in 
his  pulpit,  hoping  to  get  some  of  his  inspiration,  halted  by  his  grave,  and  thought  how 
from  that  comparatively  small  church  (there  are  twenty  larger  churches  in  New  York  and 
Brooklyn)  there  has  gone  out  a  celestial  spell  upon  all  Christendom.  I  said  to  some  of  those 
who  knew  him  well  : 

"Was  he  really  as  good  as  the  books  say  he  was?" 

The  unanimous  answer  was,  "  Yes,  yes."  His  was  goodness  set  to  music,  and  twined 
into  rhythm. 

The  goodness  of  some  people  is  rough  and  spiked,  and  we  wish  the}-  were  less  good 
and  more  genial.  But  McCheyue  grew  pleasant  in  proportion  as  he  grew  holy.  And  there 
are  his  old  church 
and  his  unpreten- 
tious grave  a  charm 
for  the  centuries. 

W^e  had  also 
passed  under  the 
gate  where  Wishart 
stood  and  preached 
to  the  people  out- 
side the  wall  during 
the  plague,  and  from 
the  text,  "He  sent 
his  word  and  healed 
them;"  an  assassin 
with  dagger  drawn 
waiting  to  stab  him 
when  he  came  down, 
the  murderous  in- 
tention defeated  by 
Wishart's    putting 

his  hand  on  his  shoulder  affectionately  ;  and  when  the  excited  populace  rushed  on  to 
destroy  the  assassin,  were  hindered  by  Wishart's  defence  of  the  desperado,  as  the  clergyman 
said,  "  He  who  slays  this  man  will  first  have  to  slay  me."  We  have  been  at  the  table  with 
and  heard  the  post-prandial  talk  of  Dundee's  clergymen,  bankers,  and  literati.  We  have 
been  in  the  parlors  with  the  beautiful  women  of  Scotland — the  high  color  of  the  cheek, 
the  purity  of  their  complexion,  the  elegance  of  their  manners,  the  brilliancy  of  their  repar- 
tee, and  the  religious  fervor  of  their  conversation  making  up  an  attractiveness  peculiar 
to  their  nationality.     There  are  no  brighter  homes  on  earth  than  in  Scotland. 

In  the  mood  which  all  these  scenes  had  induced  we  stepped  on  board  the  Star  o'  Gowrie 
for  a  sail  on  the  Tay.  Whether  we  did  not  pa\-  it  sufficient  deference  by  tipping  our  hat 
to  it  as  we  started,  or  what  was  the  reason,  we  will  not  guess  :  but  the  wind  lifted  our  hat 
for  us,  and  away  it  went  into  the  Tay,  never  to  be  recovered,  and  would  have  left  us  in  an 
awkward  plight,  for  people  only  laugh  at  a  man  who  has  lost  his  hat,  but  we  happened  to 
have  a  surplus,  and  so  were  immediately  refitted. 


HULVRuijli    CA.STI.K,    SCOTLAND. 


458 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLP:D. 


We  passed  under  the  Tay  Bridge,  the  longest  bridge  across  a  tidal  river  in  the  world ; 
but  the  whole  heaven  that  day  was  an  arch  bridge,  buttressed  with  broken  storm  cloud, 
mighty  enough  to  let  all  the  armies  of  Heaven  cross  over,  and  indeed  it  seemed  as  if 
they  were  crossing — plumes  of  cloud,  and  wheels  of  cloud,  and  horses  of  cloud,  troop  after 
troop,  battalion  after  battalion. 

There  are  some  days  when  the  heavens  seem  to  turn  out  on  parade.  But  there  is  no 
danger  that  this  suspension-bridge  from  horizon  to  horizon  will  break,  for  if  here  and  there 
a  crystal  should  shiver  under  celestial  foot,  the  cavalcades  are  winged,  and  the  fracture  of 
sapphire  would  be  repaired  by  one  stroke  of  the  trowel  of  sunshine. 

The  banks  of  the  Tay  seem  clad   with  a  supernatural  richness.      The   verdure  and 


ROBERT  lU-RXS'  COTTACK,  NEAR  AYR,  SCOTLAND. 

foliage  seem  to  have  dripped  off  heights  celestial.  The  hills  on  either  side  run  down  to 
pay  obeisance  to  the  queenly  river,  and  then  run  up  to  the  sky  to  report  the\-  have  done  so. 
Abbeys  and  castles  stand  on  either  shore,  telling  of  the  devotions  and  the  courage  of  dead 
centuries.  If  you  had  time  to  stop  and  mount  one  of  the  casements  of  Elcho  Castle,  that 
old  ruin  on  the  .south  bank  of  the  Tay,  and  should  call  the  roll  of  the  heroes  departed,  Bruce 
and  Wallace,  and  Thomas  de  Longueville,  calling  loud  enough,  you  might  in  the  echoes 
hear  the  neighing  of  the  war  chargers,  the  clash  of  claymores,  and  the  battle  cry  of  Clan 
Chattan  responded  to  by  Clan  Inhele,  and  all  the  other  clans, 

Bold  and  true 
In  bonnet  blue." 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


459 


On  this  side  the  Tay  is  the  ruin  of  Lindore's  Abbey,  with  its  great  stone  coffins, 
about  the  contents  of  which  generations  have  been  surmising,  and  about  which  Dean  Stanley 
remarked  one  day  to  a  friend — that,  considering  the  size  of  the  coffins,  the  people  occupying 
them  must  have  been  broad  churchmen. 

And  yonder  is  the  ruin  of  Balnabreich  Castle.     A  few  straggling  stones  only  tell  the 


nOl'NE   CASTLE   AND   GALI-OWS   TREE. 
Doune  Castle,  Scotland,  is  the  most  majestic  feudal  remains  in  Great  Britain.  500  years  old. 


place  which  once   was  the   retreat  of  the  mighty.     Near  by  it   the  battlefield   of  Black 
Ironside,  and  the  stream  where  Wallace  and  his  thirsty  men  found  refreshment. 

"Drank  first  himself,  and  said  in  sober  mood, 
The  wine  of  France  I  ne'er  thought  half  so  good.'  " 

But  say  some  :  "  We  have  no  interest  in  these  old  castles  and  abbeys."  That  display's 
your  own  ignorance.  We  notice  that  people  who  have  no  interest  in  such  places  arc 
unacquainted  with  history,  and  no  wonder  to  them  Kenilworth  Castle  is  of  less  interest 
than  a  fallen  down  smoke-house.      Alas  for  those  who  feel  no   thrill   amid   these  scenes  of 


460 


THE   EARTH   GH^LDLED. 


decayed  arcliitectiire!  vSnch  ruins  are  the  places  where  the  past  ages  come  and  sit  beside 
ais,  sliow  us  their  leathern  doublet,  bend  their  keen-tempered  blade,  sing  us  the  old  songs, 
and  halting  the  centuries  in  their  solemn  march,  bid  them  turn  round  and  for  a  little  while 
march  the  other  way. 

We  are  apt  to  think,  while  looking  upon  these  old  ruins  of  barbaric  times,  how  much 
the  world  has  advanced.  Yes,  but  not  in  all  things  for  the  better.  Is  our  centurv  which 
■drops  a  bombshell  able  to  kill  twenty  men  any  better  than  the  century  with  falchion  that 
killed  one  man?  Are  Waterloo  and  Sedan  with  their  tens  of  thousands  of  slain  better  than 
the  North  Inch  at  Perth,  near  which  we  are  now  landing  in  this  Scotch  afternoon,  the  North 
Inch  where  thirty  men  of  one  clan  and  thirty  men  of  another  clan,  picked  from  their  nation 
as  champions,  fought  until  all  were  slain,  or  wounded,  or  dishonored,  or  drov/ned  in  the  Tay  ? 


Mhl.KOSK    AKHHY,    SCOTLAND,    KOUNDHn    BY    DAVID  I.,   A  .  D.    II36. 

Is  murder  on  an  immense  scale  better  than  murder  on  a  small  scale  ?     Was  Napoleon 

despoiling  nations  so  much  better  than  Robin  Hood  despoiling  a  wayfarer?    Is  Sin  Brobdig- 

nagian  more  admirable  than  Sin  Lilliputian?     Is  Springfield  Armors-  better  in  God's  sight 

than  Balnabreich  Castle  ?     But  before  we  get  the  questions  answered  our  steamer  touches 

the  wharf,  and  we  disembark  with  a  farewell  to  the  beautiful  Tay,  which  seems  to  answei, 

as  we  part : 

"jSIen  ma)'  come  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever, 
I  go  on  forever, 
I  go  on  forever." 

We  Republicans  and  Democrats  in  America  have  been  brought  up  on  the  theory  tb.at 
tlie  aristocracy   of    England   and   Scotland   live  a   fictitious    and   stilted    life    in    aim,    and 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


461 


meaningless.  My  own  ideas  on  the  subject  have  been  reconstructed  by  that  which  I  have 
seen.  There  are  in  the  world  three  kinds  of  aristocracy — the  aristocracy  of  wealth,  the  aris- 
tocracy of  birth,  the  aristocracy  of  goodness.  The  last  will  yet  come  to  the  ascendency,  and 
men  will  be  judged,  not  according  to  the  number  of  dollars  they  have  gathered,  nor  the  fame 
of  their  ancestors.  But  if  we  must  choose  between  the  aristocracy  of  wealth  and  the  aris- 
tocracy' of  birth,  we  choose  the  latter.  We  find  that  those  who  have  been  born  to  high  posi- 
tion wear  their  honors  with  more  ease  and  less  ostentation  than  those  who  come  suddenly 
upon  distinguished  place. 

The  man  with  a  stable  of  fifty  horses  and  a  kennel  of  fifty  hounds  may  be  as  humble 
as  the  man  who  goes  afoot  and  has  no  dog  to  follow  him.  So  far  as  we  have  seen  the- 
homes  and  habits  of  the  aristocracy  of  England,  we  find  them  plain  in  their  manners^ 
highly  cultured  as  to  their  minds,  and  many  of  them  intensely  Christian  in  their  feelings- 
There  is  more  strut  and  pre- 
tension of  manner  in  many  an 
American  constable,  or  alder- 
man, or  legislator,  than  }"on 
will  find  in  the  halls  and 
castles  of  the  lords  and  earls 
of  England.  One  great  rea- 
son for  this  is  that  a  man  born 
to  great  position  in  Great 
Britain  is  not  afraid  of  losing 
it.  He  got  it  from  his  father, 
and  his  father  from  his  grand- 
father, and  after  the  present 
occupant  is  done  with  his 
estate,  his  child  will  get  it 
and  then  his  grandchild  and 
so  on  perpetually.  It  is  the 
man  who  has  had  distin- 
guished place  only  two  or 
three  years  and  ma\-  lose  it  to-morrow,  who  is  especially  anxious  to  impress  you  with 
his  exaltation.     His  reign  is  so  short  he  wants  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

Even  the  men  who  come  up  from  the  masses  in  England  to  political  power  are  more- 
like  to  keep  it  than  in  America,  for  the  member  of  the  House  of  Commons  may  represent 
any  part  of  England  that  desires  to  compliment  his  ser\aces  instead  of  being  compelled  to- 
contest  with  twentv  small  men  in  his  own  district,  as  in  America.  It  made  no  difference- 
to  John  Bright  whether  Birmingham  wanted  to  send  him  to  Parliament  or  not.  There 
were  plenty  of  counties  that  did  want  to  send  him.  Some  of  the  most  unpretentious  men 
of  England  are  the  most  highly  honored.  Gladstone  is  not  afraid  of  losing  his  honors 
while  with  coat  off  he  swings  his  axe  against  the  forest  trees  at  Hawarden,  near 
Chester. 

In  a  picnic  of  working  people  assembled  on  his  lawn  one  sunnner  day,  Mr.  Gladstone,, 
while  making  a  little  speech,  said  : 

"We  are  very  proud  of  our  trees  and  are  therefore  getting  anxious  as  the  beech  has. 
already  shown  symptoms  of  decay.     We  set  great  store  by  our  trees." 

"Why,  then,"  shouted  one  of  his  rough  Jiearers,  "do  yon  cut  them  down  as  you  do?"- 


THE    OLD    CLIKIO.SITY   SHOP. 


462  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

"  We  cut  down  that  we  may  improve.  We  remove  rottenness  that  we  may  restore 
health  by  lettmg  in  air  and  light.     As  a  good  Liberal  you  ought  to  understand  that." 

So  Mr.  Gladstone,  though  holding  the  strongest  political  pen  in  England,  is  easily 
accessible,  and  is  not  afraid  of  being  contaminated  by  contact  with  inferiors. 

A  citizen  of  Rochdale,  in  reply  to  my  question  about  Mr.  Bright,  said  : 

"  We  do  not  know  Mr.  Bright !     He  \s  John  Bright." 

Indeed,  from  ray  delightful  interview  with  that  eloquent  and  magnetic  Englishman  I 
could  understand  this  familiarity  with  his  name.  His  genial  and  transcendent  nature  looked 
at  you  through  the  blue  eyes,  and  spoke  from  the  fine  head,  white  as  the  blossoms  of  the 
almond  tree,  and  without  any  reserve  putting  himself  into  familiar  conversation  on  all  the 
great  questions  of  the  day,  you  easily  saw  how,  while  the  masses  shouted  at  his  appearance 
on  the  platform,  the  Queen  of  England  sent  word  that  when  he  approached  her  he  might, 
according  to  his  Quaker  habits  and  belief,  keep  his  hat  on. 

This  unostentation,  seen  among  those  who  have  done  their  own  climbing,  is  true  also 
of  those  who  are  at  the  top  without  climbing  at  all. 

The  Marquis  of  Townshend,  who  presided  at  our  lecture  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  has 
the  simplicity  of  a  child,  and  meeting  him  among  other  men  you  would  not  suspect  either 
his  wealth  or  his  honors. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  like  a  good  old  grandfather  from  whom  it  reqviires  no  art 
to  evoke  either  a  tear  or  a  laugh. 

The  family  of  Lord  Cairns,  the  highest  legal  authority  in  England,  was  like  any  other 
Christian  home  which  has  high  art  and  culture  to  adorn  it. 

Among  the  pleasantest  and  most  unaffected  of  people  are  duchesses  and  "  right  honor- 
able "  ladies.  The  most  completely  gospelized  man  we  met  was  the  Earl  of  Kintore. 
Seated  at  his  table  he  said  :  "  Do  not  forget  our  journey  next  Sabbath  night." 

It  was  useless  to  tell  us  not  to  forget  that  which  we  had  so  ardently  anticipated.  At 
six  o'clock  his  lordship  called  at  the  Westminster  Palace  Hotel,  not  with  carriage,  for  we 
were  going  where  it  was  best  for  us  to  go  afoot.  With  his  servant  to  carry  his  coat  and 
Bible  and  psalm-book  we  sauntered  forth.  We  were  out  to  see  some  of  the  evening  and 
midnight  charities  of  London.  First  of  all  we  went  into  the  charity  lodging-houses  of 
London,  the  places  where  outcast  men  who  would  otherwise  have  to  lodge  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  or  under  the  arch  bridges  may  come  in  and  find  gratuitous  shelter.  These 
men,  as  we  went  in,  sat  around  in  all  stages  of  poverty  and  wretchedness.  As  soon  as  the 
earl  entered  they  all  knew  him.  With  some  he  shook  hands,  which  in  some  cases  was  a 
big  undertaking.  It  is  pleasant  to  shake  hands  with  the  clean,  but  a  trial  to  shake  hands 
with  the  untidy.  Lord  Kintore  did  not  stop  to  see  whether  these  men  had  attended  to 
proper  ablution.  They  were  in  sin  and  trouble,  and  needed  help,  and  that  was  enough  to 
invoke  all  his  sympathies.  He  addres.sed  them  as  "gentlemen  "  in  a  short  religious  address 
and  promised  them  a  treat  "  about  Christmas,"  telling  them  how  many  pounds  he  would 
send ;  and  accommodating  himself  to  their  capacity,  he  said  "  it  would  be  a  regular  blow 
out." 

He  told  me  that  he  had  no  faith  in  trying  to  do  their  souls  good  unless  he  sympathized 
practically  with  their  physical  necessities.  His  address  was  earnest,  helpful  and  looked 
toward  two  worlds — this  and  the  next.  In  midsummer  a  large  fire  was  burning  in  the  grate. 
Turning  to  those  forlorn  wretches,  Lord  Kintore  said  :  "  That  is  a  splendid  fire.  I  don't 
believe  they  have  a  better  fire  than  that  in  Buckingham  Palace." 

From  this  charity  lodging-house,  which  the  inmates  call  the  "  House  of  Lords,"  we 


(463) 


464 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


went  to  one  of  inferior  qnality,  which  the  inmates  call  the  "  House  of  Commons." 
There  were  diflFerent  grades  of  squalor,  different  degrees  of  rags,  different  stages  of 
malodor. 

From  there  we  went  to  missions,  and  outdoor  meetings,  and  benevolent  rooms,  where 
coffee  and  chocolate  are  crowding  out  ale  and  spirits.  Ready  with  prayer  and  exhortation 
himself,  his  lordship  expected  everybody  with  him  to  be  ready,  and  although  he  had 
promised  to  do  the  talking  himself,  he  had  a  sudden  and  irresistible  way  of  tumbling  others 
into  religions  addresses;  so  that,  at  the  close  of  this  Sunday,  which  we  had  set  apart  for 
entire  quiet,  we  found  we  had  made  five  addresses. 

But  it  was  one  of  the  most  refreshing  and  instructive  days  of  all  our  lives.  As  we 
parted  that  night  on  the  streets  of  London,  I  felt  I  had  been  with  one  of  the  best  men  of 
the  age. 

What  a  grand  thing,  when  the  men  at  the  top  are  willing  for  Christ's  sake  to  stoop  to 

those  at  the  bottom. 
]\Iay  this  sort  of  aris- 
tocracy become  uni- 
versal and  perpetual ! 
While  the  Duke 
of  Beaufort  is  shoot- 
ing pheasants  in  the 
copse  at  Badminton, 
and  is  distinguished 
for  Southdown 
sheep,  and  a  cabinet 


set  with  gems  that 
cost  ;^50,ooo,  and  an 
estate  of  incalculable 
value,  most  men  will 
have  more  admira- 
tion for  such  dukes 
and  lords  and  noble- 
men as  are  celebrated 
for  what  they  are 
doing  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  world's 
condition.     Lord 

Congleton,  missionary  to  Bagdad  before  lie  got  his  title,  but  afterward  making  himself  felt 
as  Oriental  scholar  and  religious  teacher  ;  Lord  Cavan,  the  stirring  evangelist  ;  Lord  Radstock, 
not  ashamed  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  Russian  nobility,  and  Lord  Kintore  who  was  always 
ready  to  take  platform  or  pulpit,  when  there  was  anything  good  to  be  done,  or  walk  through 
the  haunts  of  destitution  and  crime,  for  temporal  and  spiritual  rescue. 

So  in  England  there  are  whole  generations  on  the  right  side.  While  for  pretension 
and  hereditary  sham  we  wish  a  speedy  overthrow,  we  pray  God  for  the  welfare  and 
continuance  of  a  self-sacrificing,  intelligent,  virtuous  and  Cliristian  aristocracy. 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY,    lONDON. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


46; 


We  have  been  in  the  laud  of  unpronounceable  names,  and  for  the  first  time  in  our 
life  seen  a  Welsh  audience.  They  are  the  most  genial  and  hearty  of  all  people.  When 
the)-  laugh  they  laugh,  when  they  cry  they  cry,  and  when  they  cheer  they  cheer,  and  there 
is  no  half-way  work  about  it. 

Their  language  is  said  to  be  only  second  in  sweetness  and  rhythm,  but  the  English 
tongue  seems  to  be  crowding  it  out.  The  melody  of  the  W^elsh  vernacular  we  must,  how- 
ever, take  on  faith.  We  give  our  readers  an  opportunity  of  practicing  the  music  of  the 
names  of  some  of  the  Welsh  vallej's,  such  as  Llangollen,  Maentwrog  and  Ystwyth  ;  of 
some    of    the  Welsh    medicinal     1 1    springs,  such  as  Llanwrtyd,  Trefriw  and 


L,landrindod  ;  of  some  of  the 
cerwyn  and  Aanfawddwy.  If 
elation  of  these  names,  you  wil 
aries,  entitled  :  "  Dymchweliad 
cannot  succeed  you  will,  perhaps 
a    lantjuage    which     the    Welsh 


Welsh  mountains,  sr.ch  as  Pencwm- 
you  are  at  all  puzzled  with  the  pronun- 
please  get  one  of  the  Welsh  diction- 
alloruchel  y  Pab."  And  if  then  \ou 
stop,  and  be  as  ignorant  as  I  am  of 
say  has  in  it  capacities  for  tenderness, 
and  nice  shades  of  meaning,  and  pathos, 
and  thunderings  of  power  beside  which 


WI-STMINSTER    BRIDGE    AND   CLOCK   TOWER,    LONDON. 

our  English  is  insipid.  Within  a  comparativeh'  few  }'ears  the  English  Government  has 
found  Wales  to  be  her  most  valuable  treasure  house.  She  has  the  largest  coal  fields  in 
Europe,  and  in  vertical  thickness  the  strata  surpass  the  world.  Her  iron,  and  lead,  and 
copper,  and  zinc,  and  silver,  and  gold,  must  yet  connnand  the  attention  of  all  nations.  Her 
minerals,  unlike  those  of  most  countries,  are  within  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  of  the  sea,  and 
easily  transported. 

Considering  the  fact  that  the  language  is  spoken  by  less  than  a  million  of  people,  the 
literature  of  the  Welsh  is  incomparable  for  extent.  The  first  book  was  published  in  1531, 
and  consisted  of  twenty-one  leaves.  Four  years  after,  another  book.  Eleven  years  after, 
another  book  which  they  strangely  called  "The  Bible,"  containing  the  alphabet,  an  almanac, 
the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  something  about  their 
national  games. 

An  astounding  "Bible"  that  was.  Eighteen  years  after  this  another  book  appeared. 
The  slow  advancement  was  because  the  prominent  men  of  the  English  nation  wanted  the 
Welsh  language  to  die  out,  on  the  supposition  that  these  people  would  be  more  loyal  to 
30 


466  THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 

the  throne  if  they  all  spoke  the  English  language.  But,  afterward,  the  printing  press  of 
Wales  got  into  full  swing,  and  now  books  and  periodicals  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
copies  are  printed  and  circulated  in  the  Welsh  language.  But,  excepting  a  few  ballads  of  an 
immoral  nature,  corrupt  literature  dies  as  soon  as  it  touches  this  region. 

Many  bad  English  novels  that  blight  other  countries  cannot  live  a  month  in  the  pure 
atmosphere  of  these  mountains.  The  fact  is,  that  the  Welsh  are  an  intenselv  religious 
people,  and  one  of  their  foremost  men  declares  that  in  all  their  literature  there  is  not  one 
book  atheistic  or  infidel. 

The  grandest  pulpit  eloquence  of  the  centuries  has  sounded  through  these  gorges.  I 
asked  an  intelligent  Welsh  lady  if  there  were  any  people  living  who  remembered  the  great 
Welsh  divine,  Christian  Evans.  She  replied  :  "Yes!  I  remember  him — that  is,  I  remem- 
ber the  excitement.  I  was  a  child  in  church,  and  sat  in  a  pew,  and  could  not  see  him  for 
the  crowd,  but  the  scene  made  on  me  an  indelible  impression." 

For  consecrated  fire  the  Welsh  preachers  are  the  most  effective  in  the  world.  Taken 
.all  in  all,  there  are  no  people  in  Europe  that  more  favorably  impress  me  than  the  Welsh. 
The  namby  pamby  traveler,  afraid  of  getting  his  shoes  tarnished,  and  who  loves  to  shake 
hands  with  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  and  desires  conversation  in  a  whisper,  would  be  disgusted 
with  Wales.  But  they  who  have  nothing  of  the  fastidious  in  their  temperaments,  and  who 
.admire  strength  of  voice,  strength  of  arm,  strength  of  purpose,  and  strength  of  character, 
will  find  among  the  Welsh  illimitable  entertainment. 

On  my  way  from  Wales  I  met  with  one  of  the  most  exciting  scenes  I  ever  witnessed. 
We  were  in  a  rail  train  going  at  a  terrific  velocity.  There  are  two  or  three  locomotives  in 
England  celebrated  for  speed  ;  one  they  call  the  Flying  Dutchman,  another  they  call  the 
A'orkshire  Devil.  We  were  flying  ahead  at  about  si.xty  miles  the  hour.  There  were  five  of 
us,  four  gentlemen  and  a  lady,  in  an  English  car,  which  is  a  different  thing,  as  most  people 
know,  from  an  American  car,  the  former  holding  comfortably  only  about  eight  persons,  four 
of  them  may  occupy  one  seat,  facing  four  on  the  other  seat.  We  halted  at  the  "  station," 
.as  they  say  in  England,  or  at  the  "  depot,"  as  we  say  in  America.  A  gentleman  came 
to  the  door  and  stood  a  moment,  as  if  not  knowing  whether  to  come  in  or  stay  out.  The 
conductor  compelling  him  to  decide  immediateh-,  he  got  in.  He  was  finely  gloved,  and 
ever}'  way  well  dressed. 

Seated,  he  took  out  his  knife  and  began  the  attempt  of  splitting  a  sheet  of  paper  edge- 
wise, and  at  this  .sat  intensely  engaged  for  perhaps  an  hour.  The  suspicion  of  all  in  the 
•car  was  aroused  in  regard  to  liim,  when  suddenly  he  arose,  and  looked  around  at  his  fellow- 
passengers,  and  the  fact  was  revealed  by  his  eye  and  manner  that  he  was  a  maniac.  The 
lady  in  the  car  (she  was  traveling  unaccompanied)  became  frenzied  with  fright,  and  rushed 
to  the  door  as  if  about  to  jump  out.  Planting  my  foot  against  the  door,  I  made  this  death- 
leap  impossible.  A  look  of  horror  was  on  all  the  faces,  and  the  question  with  each  was, 
"  What  will  the  madman  do  next?  " 

A  madman  unarmed  is  alarming,  but  a  madman  with  an  open  knife  is  terrific.  In  the 
demoniac  strength  that  comes  to  such  a  one  he  might  make  sad  havoc  in  that  flying  rail 
train,  or  he  might  spring  out  of  the  door  as  once  or  twice  he  attempted.  It  was  a  question 
between  retaining  the  foaming  furs-  in  our  company,  or  letting  him  dash  his  life  out  on  the 
rocks. 

So  it  might  be  a  question  between  his  life  and  the  life  of  one  or  more  in  the  train. 
Our  own  safety  .said,  "Let  him  go!"  Our  humanity  said,  "Keep  him  back  from  instant 
•death  !  "  and  humanity  trinmijhed.     The  bell-rope  reaching  to  the  locomotive  in  the  English 


THE  WORLD  AS  vSEEN  TO-DAY. 


467 


Tail  trains  is  on  the  outside  of  the  car,  and  near  the  roof,  and  difficult  to  reach.  I  gave  it 
two  or  three  stout  pulls,  but  there  was  no  slackening  of  speed.  Another  passenger  repeated 
the  attempt  without  getting  any  recognition.  We  might  as  well  have  tried  to  stop  a 
■whirlwind  by  pulling  a  boy's  kite-string. 

When  an  English  engineer  starts  his  train  he  stops  for  nothing  short  of  a  collision,  and 
the  bell-rope  along  the 
outside  edges  of  the  car 
is  only  to  make  passen- 
gers feel  comfortable 
at  the  idea  that  they 
•can  stop  the  train  if 
they  want  to,  and  as  it 
is  not  once  in  a  thous- 
and times  any  one  is 
willing  to  risk  his  arm 
and  reach  out  of  the 
window  long  enough 
to  work  the  rope,  the 
delusion  is  seldom 
broken.  To  rid  our- 
selves of  our  ghostly 
associate  seemed  im- 
possible. 

Then  there  came 
a  struggle  as  to  who 
should  have  the  supre- 
macy of  that  car,  right 
reason  or  dementia. 
The  demoniac  mo\ed 
around  the  car  as 
though  it  belonged  to 
him,  and  all  the  rest  of 
us  were  intruders.  Then 
he  dropped  in  convul- 
sions across  the  lap  of 
one  of  the  passengers. 

At  this  nioiTieut, 
when  we  thought  the 
horror  had  climacter- 
ated,  the  tragedy  was 
intensified.  We  plunged 
into  the  midnight  dark- 
ness of  one  of  those  long  tunnels  for  which  English  railway  travel  is  celebrated.  The 
minutes  seemed  hours.  Can  you  imagine  a  worse  position  than  to  be  fastened  in  a  rail- 
way carriage  eight  feet  by  six,  in  a  tunnel  of  complete  darkness,  with  a  maniac  ?  IMay 
the  occurrence  never  be  repeated !  We  knew  not  what  moment  he  might  dash  upon  us 
or  in  what  wav. 


THE   CORONATION    CHAIR,  WESTMINSTER   ABBEY. 


468  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

We  waited  for  the  light,  and  waited  while  the  hair  lifted  upon  the  scalp,  and  the  blood 
ran  cold.  When  at  last  the  light  looked  in  through  the  windows,  we  found  the  afflicted  man 
lying  almost  helpless.  When  the  train  halted  he  was  carried  out,  and  we  changed  carriages, 
for  we  did  not  want  to  be  in  the  place  where  such  a  revolting  scene  had  been  enacted. 

Thank  God  for  healthful  possession  of  the  mental  faculties.  For  that  great  blessing  how 
little  appreciation  we  have.  From  cradle  to  grave  we  move  on  imder  this  light,  not  realiz- 
ing how  easy  it  would  be  to  have  it  snuffed  out. 

God  pity  the  insane.  For  all  who  have  been  wrecked  on  that  barren  coast,  let  our 
deepest  sympathies  be  awakened.  Nothing  more  powerfully  stirred  the  heart  of  the  "Man  of, 
sorrows  "  than  the  demoniac  of  Gadara,  and  what  relief  when  the  devil  came  out  of  him  and 
the  desperate  patient,  who  had  cut  himself  among  the  tombs,  sat  clothed  and  in  his  right 
mind. 

Until  that  encounter  in  the  rail  train  we  were  in  doubt  as  to  whether  we  preferred 
English  or  American  railroading,  as  each  has  its  advantages.  But  since  then  we  cast  our 
vote  in  favor  of  American  travel.  We  cannot,  excepting  in  two  or  three  cases,  equal  the 
English  in  speed.  Their  tracks  are  more  solidly  built,  and  hence  greater  velocity  is  possible 
without  peril.  But  the  arrangements  for  "  baggage  "  as  we  say,  or  "  luggage  "  as  they  say, 
is  far  inferior.  No  getting  of  a  trunk  checked  for  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles  without 
again  having  to  look  at  it.  Nothing  to  show  for  your  baggage,  and  only  a  label  put  on  the 
lid  announcing  its  destination  ;  you  are  almost  sure  to  lose  it  unless  at  every  change  of  cars 
you  go  out  and  supervise  the  transportation.  Beside  that  it  is  impossible  to  stop  the  train, 
however  great  the  necessity.  A  prolonged  scene  like  that  which  I  have  just  now  sketched  in 
an  American  railway  would  have  been  an  impossibility.  What  though  occasionally  a  weak 
man  may  impose  on  the  convenient  bell-rope  and  stop  the  train  without  sufficient  cause, 
there  ought  to  be  a  certain  and  innnediate  way  of  halting  a  train  in  case  of  such  a  wild, 
appalling  and  tremendous  e.xigency. 

*  * 

It  is  well  for  ever}-  one  crossing  the  ocean  to  know  beforehand  the  difference  between 
the  use  of  certain  words  in  England  and  America.  The  American  says  "  depot,"  the 
Englishman  says  "  station."  The  American  says  "ticket  office,"  the  Englishman  says 
"  booking  office."  The  American  says  "baggage,"  the  Englishman  says  "luggage."  The 
American  says  "  I  guess,"  the  Englishman  says  "  I  fancy."  The  American  says  "  crackers," 
the  Englishman  says  "biscuit."  The  American  says  "checkers,"  the  Englishman  says 
"draughts."  The  American  says  "  yeast,"  the  Englishman  says  "  barm."  The  American 
calls  the  close  of  the  meal  "  dessert,"  the  Englishman  calls  it  "  sweets."  The  American 
says  "sexton,"  the  Englishman  says  "doorkeeper."  The  American  uses  the  word  "clever" 
to  describe  geniality  and  kindness,  the  Englishman  uses  the  word  "  clever  "  to  describe 
sharpness  and  talent.  There  are  many  more  differences,  but  as  education  advances  and 
intercommunication  between  England  and  America  becomes  still  more  frequent,  there  will 
be  only  one  tongue,  and  all  words  will  mean  the  same  on  this  and  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

I  have  at  different  times  seen  much  of  the  English  watering  places.  They  are  in  full 
tide  in  September,  that  month  in  this  respect  corresponding  with  our  August.  Brighton  is 
like  Long  Branch.  Weymouth  is  like  Cape  May.  Scarborough  is  like  Saratoga.  Isle  of 
Wight  is  like  heaven. 

Brighton  being  within  an  hour  and  a  half  of  London,  the  great  masses  pour  out  to  its 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


469 


beach,  and  take  a  dip  in  the  sea.  But  Scarborough  is  the  place  where  the  high  prices  shut 
out  those  of  slender  purse.  It  combines  more  of  natural  and  artificial  beauty  than  any 
place  I  ever  saw.  It  is  built  on  terraces.  Its  gardens  rise  in  galleries.  Two  great  arms  of 
land  reach  out  into  the  sea,  and  hundreds  of  gay  sailing  craft  float  in.  A  castle  seven 
hundred  years  old  straggles  its  ruins  out  to  the  very  precipice. 

The  air  is  tonic  and  the  spectacle  bewitching.  Lords,  and  ladies,  and  gentry  come  here 
for  a  few  weeks.  The  place  is  cool  in  summer,  and  warm  in  winter.  In  December  the 
thennometer  hovers  about  the  fifties,  and  the  people  breakfast  with  open  windows,  while 
others  are  skating  at  London. 

Of  all  the  summer  watering-places  we  have  ever  seen,  in  some  respects  Scarborough  is  the 
most  brilliant,  and  is  appropriately  called  the  "  Queen  of  English  Resorts."     But  the  prices 


THE   BE.\CH    AT   BRIGHTON. 

are  enormous  and  not  many  could  meet  them.  Brighton  is  best  known  to  American 
theologians  as  the  scene  of  the  late  Frederick  Robertson's  ministry.  We  attended  his  little 
church,  which  would  hold  perhaps  six  or  eight  hundred  people,  but  from  whose  pulpit  he 
preached  after  death  to  thousands  of  clergymen  in  Europe  and  America,  those  strange, 
powerful,  original  and  melancholy  sermons.  What  a  life  of  pain  he  lived,  sleeping  many  of 
his  nights  on  the  floor  with  the  back  of  his  head  on  the  bottom  of  a  chair,  because  he 
cotild  sleep  no  other  way  without  torture,  his  wife  a  still  worse  torment. 

Some  of  the  English  clergy  have  had  wives  celebrated  in  the  wrong  direction,  but 
more  of  them  have  homes  decorated  and  memorable  with  all  conjugal  affabilities.  In  the 
evening  of  the  Sabbath,  we  worshiped  in  Robertson's  church.  We  went  into  "  the  extra- 
mural cemetery  "  to  see  his  grave.  Though  dead  many  years,  his  tomb  bears  all  the  mark 
of  fresh  affection.  On  all  sides  vines  and  flowers  in  highest  culture.  Two  bronze  medall- 
ions, one  by  his  congregation,  the  other  by  the  working  people  who  almost  idolized  him. 
On  the  one  medallion  his  church  have  inscribed,  "  Honored  as  a  minister,  beloved  as  a  man. 


470 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


he  awakened  the  holi- 
est feelings  in  poor  and 
rich,  in  ignorant  and 
learned ;  therefore  is 
he  lamented  as  their 
guide  and  comforter, 
by  many  who,  in  the 
bond  of  brotherhood 
and  in  grateful  remem- 
brance have  erected  this 
monument."  On  the 
other  medallion  the 
working  people,  whose 
practical  friend  he 
proved  himself  to  be, 
preferred  the  inscrip- 
tion, "To  the  Reverend 
F.  Robertson,  M.  A.  In 
grateful  remembrance 
of  his  sympathy  and  in 
deep  sorrow  for  their 
loss,  the  members  of 
the  Mechanics'  Institu- 
tion and  the  working- 
men  of  Brighton  have 
placed  this  medallion 
on  their  benefactor's 
tomb." 

How  independent 
of  time  and  death  an 
earnest  man  lives  on. 
That  is  a  poor  life 
which  breaks  down  at 
the  cemetery.  Many 
of  these  illustrious 
English  preachers  had 
insigniiicant  looking 
churches.  We  went  at 
Bristol  to  see  Robert 
Hall's  chapel.  The 
present  sexton  remem- 
bered the  great  Baptist 
orator  and  preacher. 
The  church  in  Robert 
Hall's  day  would  not 
hold  more  than  si.x  hun- 
dred auditors,  but  there 


THE    WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


471 


he  preached  discourses  that  have  rung  round  the  world  and  will  ring  through  the  ages^ 
The  size  of  a  man's  shop  is  not  of  so  much  importance  as  the  style  of  work  he  turns- 
out.  Ole  Bull  could  play  the  "  Hallelujah  Chorus  "  on  a  corn-stalk  fiddle.  Blessed  are  all 
they  who  do  their  best,  whether  in  sphere  resounding  or  insignificance. 

But  the  Isle  of  Wight,  as  already  hinted,  has  a  supernal  beauty.     If  a  poet,  you  will 
go  there  and  see  what  was  Tennyson's  summer  residence,  and  where  he  sauntered  among' 
the   copses  with   his  inevitable  pipe  as  celebrated  as  the  cigar  of  an  American  general.      If 
you  are  an  invalid,  )-ou  will  go  there  to  bless  )our  lungs  with  the  soft  atmosphere  of  its 


LONDON   BRrDGE. 


valleys.     If  you  are  fond  of  ro\-alty,  you  will  either  get  into  the  Queen's  castle  at  Osborne, 
or  see  her  equipage  on  its  daily  "  outing." 

If  you  are  a  Christian,  you  will  go  to  the  village  which  Dean  Richmond  has  made 
immortal.  Stop  at  the  inn  called  the  Hare  and  Hounds,  and  visit  the  grave  at  the  north- 
east of  the  church,  reading  on  the  tombstone  : 


"Sacbed  to  the  Memory  of 

ELIZABETH    WALBRIDGE, 

The  Dairyman's  Daughter, 

who  died  Ma\'  30,  iSoi, 

Aged  31  Years. 

She  being  dead,  3'et  speaketh.'' 


472  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

Or  the  tomb  of  the  schoohnaster  and  chiirch-clerk,  whose  epitaph  I  should  think  had  been 

written   by  some   lad  who  had  felt  the  switcli   of    the  pedagogue,  and  took  post-»iortcm 

vengeance : 

"  In  vonder  sacred  pile  his  voice  was  wont  to  sound, 
And  now  his  body  rests  beneath  tlie  hallowed  ground. 
He  taught  the  peasant  boy  to  read  and  use  the  pen  ; 
His  earthly  toils  are  o'er — he's  cried  his  last  Amen  .'  " 

Or,  if  you  are  fond  of  antiquities,  you  will  go  to  Carisbrook  Castle  and  see  the  room 
•where  Princess  Elizabeth,  her  heart  broken  at  the  imprisonment  and  death  of  her  father, 
Charles  the  First,  was  found  dead  with  her  head  on  the  open  Bible  at  the  text — "  Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Or,  if  fond  of 
tragedy,  you  will  stand  on  the  bank  at  Sandown  and  look  off  upon  the  water  where,  a  year 
or  two  ago,  the  Eurydice  sank,  with  all  on  board,  under  a  sudden  squall.  A  gentleman 
described  to  me  the  scene  and  how  the  bodies  looked  as  they  were  brought  up  the  beach. 

Oh,  how  wonderful  for  all  styles  of  interest  is  this  Isle  of  Wight — the  bays,  the  yachts, 
the  hills,  the  mansions,  the  arbors,  the  bridges,  the  seventy-two  thousand  souls  augmented 
by  the  temporary  population  from  the  sweltering  cities !  Ventnor  and  Undercliff  and 
Shanklinchine  and  Blackgarg  ! 

The  isle,   twenty-three  miles  long   by   thirteen   wide,   is  one  great  dream  of  beauty. 

What  trees  arch  it !     What  streams  silver  it .     What  flowers  emboss  it !     What  memories 

haunt  it ! 

"  The  sparkling  streamlet,  joyous,  bright  and  free, 
Leaps  through  the  rocky  chine  to  kiss  the  sea," 

Memorable  among  my  wanderings  will  be  the  day  spent  on  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The 
long  storm  of  weeks  lifted  that  morning,  and  there  were  gardens  above  as  well  as  gardens 
beneath,  groined  roof  of  cloud  over  tesselated  pavements  and  field.  Fleets  sailing  the  sea ; 
fleets  sailing  the  sky.  Boats  racing  in  the  bay,  and  regattas  of  cloud  on  the  sk)-.  The 
scene  seemed  let  down  out  of  heaven  on  two  crimson  pulleys  of  sunrise  and  sunset. 

If  you  want  to  mingle  with  the  jolly  masses  of  England,  let  loose  for  a  holiday,  go  to 
Brighton.  If  you  want  to  see  the  highest  fashion  of  the  realm,  and  relieve  the  plethora  of 
an  apoplectic  pocketbook,  go  to  Scarborough.  But  if  you  want  to  dream  of  eternal  woods, 
and  eternal  waters,  and  eternal  sunshine,  make  your  pillow  somewhere  on  the  blissful  and 
enchanting  Isle  of  Wight. 


* 


Our  hearts  overflow  with  gratitude  to  God  and  the  English  people.  I  do  not  think  any 
American  ever  had  so  good  an  opportunity  of  seeing  this  country  as  I  have  had.  I  have 
been  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other,  and  seen  its  vast  population  by  day  and  by  night,  at 
work  arid  in  assemblage. 

Among  other  places  I  have  been  to  Nottingham,  the  city  of  lace  ;  Birmingham,  the  city 
of  metals  ;  Manchester,  the  city  of  cotton  manufactory  ;  Liverpool,  the  city  of  international 
communicatiou  ;  Edinburgh,  the  city  of  universities ;  Glasgow,  the  city  of  ship  carpentry  ; 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  the  city  of  coals  ;  Sheffield,  the  city  of  sharp  knives  ;  Bristol,  the  city 
of  West  India  produce  ;  Luton,  the  city  of  straw  hats  ;  Northampton,  the  city  of  leather  ; 
Hull,  the  city  of  big  hearts  and  large  shipping  ;  York,  the  city  of  cathedral  grandeur ; 
Hanley,  the  city  of  potter\-  ;  Perth,  the  city  of  Walter  Scottish  memories  ;  Dundee,  th.e  city 
of  Robert  McCheyne  ;   Paisley,  the  city  of  shawls  ;  Aberdeen,  the  city  of  granite  ;  Brighton, 


i473) 


474  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

the  city  of  summer  play  ;  Rochdale,  the  city  of  John  Bright ;  Cliester,  the  city  of  antiqui- 
ties ;  London,  the  city  of  everything  grand,  glorious,  indescribable — stupendous  London ! 
May  she  stand  in  peace  and  prosperity  till  the  archangel's  trumpet  splits  open  the  granite  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  lets  up  all  her  mighty  dead  from  the  kings  of  five  centuries  ago  to 
Sir  Rowland  Hill,  the  author  of  penny  postage. 

But  now  I  am  going  to  show  you  something  you  have  never  dreamed  of 

A  grave  is  being  opened  in  England  that  overtops  all  other  things  in  stirring  interest. 
Not  the  grave  of  a  prince  or  king,  but  the  grave  of  a  whole  city,  the  buried  cit)-  of  Uvi- 
caniimi.  Riding  out  from  Shrewsburj'  or  Wellington  for  five  miles  you  see  the  soil  getting 
black,  and  along  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn  you  find  the  site  of  an  ancient  city  built  by  the 
Romans,  a  city  seventeen  hundred  years  old.  For  many  centuries  it  has  lain  under  ground 
save  a  fragment  of  wall.  Fifteen  hundred  years  ago  England  was  covered  with  these 
Roman  towns  and  cities.  Being  far  from  the  seat  of  government  at  Rome,  these  distant 
people  broke  away  from  the  home  government  and  formed  independent  principalities,  and 
these  principalities  finally  became  jealous  and  quarrelsome  and  destroyed  each  other. 

So  this  city  of  Uvicanium  perished.  Charcoal  in  the  remains  of  the  city  show  that  it 
~was  destroved  by  fire,  and  the  skeletons  found  in  the  cellars,  some  crouching  and  some 
prostrate,  show  that  the  ruin  was  sudden  and  accompanied  with  horrible  massacre.  This 
Ijuried  city  is  on  the  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Cleveland,  who  is  an  old  man  and  groi:ty  and  has 
no  interest  in  the  exhumation.  The  Queen  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  offer  to  contribute  to 
the  entire  uncovering  of  this  dead  city,  provided  the  title  of  the  ground  be  put  in  a  shape 
that  will  secure  its  permanent  possession  as  a  place  of  public  interest.  Although  but  a 
small  part  has  been  exhumed,  enough  has  been  exposed  to  make  the  place  worthy  of  a  visit 
hy  every  traveler.  Here  is  the  blacksmith  shop  with  a  stone  anvil  where  they  made  plows 
and  battle-axes.  Here  is  the  bath-room  with  floor  beautifully  tessellated,  showing  that  those 
citizens  admired  cleanliness  and  art.  Here  is  the  heating  apparatus  by  which  the  whole  house 
was  warmed  seventeen  hundred  years  ago.  There  is  the  masonry  wonderful  in  the  fact  that 
the  mortar  has  ne^•er  since  been  equaled,  for  it  is  harder  than  the  stone,  in  some  places  where 
the  stone  has  crumbled  the  mortar  standing  firm.  Capitals  and  bases  and  shafts  show  that 
the  second  century  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  nineteenth  in  some  things.  Here  is  where 
the  form  of  a  female  was  found,  and  there  the  skull  of  an  old  man  with  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  pieces  of  coin  near  him,  and  a  few  heads  of  nails  and  some  decomposed  wood 
showing  that  the  money  was  in  a  box.  The  old  man,  no  doubt,  at  the  time  of  the  taking 
of  the  city,  crawled  in  here  to  save  his  life  and  his  treasure.  The  heads  on  the  coins  were 
those  of  Constantine,  Valens,  Julian,  Theodore,  and  Tetricus. 

Here  are  the  storeroom  and  some  specimens  of  burnt  wheat.  The  houses  had  no  upper 
stories  and  no  staircases.  In  places  you  can  see  where  the  stones  have  been  worn  by  the 
feet  of  seventeen  centuries  ago.  Here  is  a  room  which  must  have  belonged  to  some 
mechanic,  a  worker  in  bone.  Here  are  the  skeletons  of  horses  and  oxen  of  sixteen  hundred 
years  past.  We  pick  up  and  put  in  our  pocket  a  few  specimens  of  teeth  that  ached  fourteen 
hundred  years  ago.  Here  is  a  receptacle  in  which  the  inhabitants  used  to  sweep  the  rubbish 
of  the  household,  hair  j^ins,  bone  needles,  nails,  oyster  shells  and  broken  pottery.  The  hair 
pins  were  made  of  bone,  and  thicken  in  the  middle  so  as  not  to  slip  out  from  the  coil  of 
hair  which  adorned  the  females.  Out  of  these  ruins  have  been  taken  steelyards,  a  comb 
for  scraping  the  skin  in  the  baths,  artists'  palettes,  a  horse  shoe,  and  medicine  stamps.  It 
seems  the  inhabitants  were  troubled  with  weak  eyes,  and  all  the  medicine  stamps  indicate 
treatment  for  that  disorder.     The  name  of  one  of  the  enterprising  doctors  of  the  city  is  thus 


THE   WORLD    AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


475 


preserved.  Tiberius  Claudius  was  the  phj'sician's  name.  But  tliey  are  all  gone,  and  Dr. 
Claudius  has  overtaken  his  patients.  There  are  urns  containing  human  ashes.  There  is 
the  grave  of  a  soldier  by  the  name  of  Cains  Mannius.  Most  of  the  skulls  of  the  inhabitants 
are,  eleven  out  of  nineteen,  deformed  skulls,  and  one  might  suppose  that  it  had  been  a  city  of 
deformed  people,  but  it  has  been  found  that  the  pressure  of  the  ground  and  the  action  of 
certain  acids  in  the  vegetable  mould  changes  the  shape  of  the  skull,  and  so  the  people  of  that 
age  and  that  city  may  have  been  as  well  formed  as  the  inhabitants  of  our  modern 
cities. 

Place  of  interest  untold  !     For  ages  the  ruins  were  untouched.     The  ancients  believed 
that  these  ruins  were  devil-haunted,  and  no  man  had   the   bravery  to  touch   the  spot.      The 


VICTORIA    FMliNNkMl   NT    i.XKDHNS. 


following  story  about  the  place  was  told  to  William  the  Conqueror,  .\lthough  the  place  was 
thoroughly  given  over  to  evil  spirits,  one  Peverel  armed  himself  with  shield  of  gold  and  a 
cross  of  azure,  and  with  fifteen  knights  and  others  went  in  and  took  lodging.  The  night 
came  on  full  of  thunder  and  lightning,  and  all  fell  flat  on  the  ground  in  terror.  But 
Peverel  implored  God  and  the  Virgin  Mary  to  defend  him  from  the  devil.  Then  the  arch 
fiend  approached,  enough  fire  and  brimstone  pouring  from  his  mouth  to  light  up  the  whole 
region.  Peverel  signed  himself  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  attacked  the  champion  of 
hell.  When  Satan  saw  the  cross  in  the  hand  of  Peverel  he  trembled  and  got  weak,  and 
surrendered.     Then  Peverel  fell  upon  him,  and  cried  :  "  Tell  me,  you  foul  creature,  who  you 


476 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


are,  and  what  you  do  in  this  town.     I  conjure  you  in   the  name  of  God  and  of  the  Holy 
Cross  !  "     So  the  devil  was  defeated  and  driven  out  of  the  dead  city  of  Uvicaniuin. 

In  this  legend  we  may  get  intimation  of  how  the  fell  spirit  may  be  driven  out  of  our 
living  cities.  He  makes  as  fearful  a  fight  now  as  when  in  thunder  and  lightning  he  dropped 
on  Peverel  and  his  brave  knights  in  Uvicanium.  Ihit  when  Pe\erel  lifted  the  cross  his 
Satanic  majesty  got  weak  in  the  knees,  and  surrendered  the  city  he  had  held  so  long.  Not 
by  sword  or  gun,  or  police  club,  or  ecclesiastical  anathema  will  the  Satanic  be  expelled  from 
New  York,  or  Brookhii,  or  London,  but  by  the  same  weapon  which  Peverel  carried.  Lift 
it  fii-mly,  lift  it  high,  lift  it  perpetually,  the  cross,  the  holy  cross,  the 
triumphant  cross  of  the  Christian  religion.  One  flash  of  that  will 
send   consternation   upon  all    the    battalions    diabolic.       Thus    may 


T'lCCADILLY   CIRCUS,    LOXDON. 


the  boastful  and  proud  cities  of  our  time  learn  salutary  lesson,  from  the  twilight  and  mid- 
night legends  of  the  dead  city  of  the  dead  centuries.  As  soon  as  you  arrive  in  England 
for  sight-seeing,  make  inquiry  for  the  best  way  of  getting  to  Uvicanium. 


IRELAND. 


We  pass  over  to  Ireland,  the  country  that  grew  Oliver  Goldsmith,  Henry  Grattan, 
Edmund  Burke,  and  Daniel  O'Connell. 

Some  of  the  people  here  remember  this  last  giant,  and  how,  as  an  Italian  writer  says, 
that  when  O'Connell  applauded,  or  cursed,  or  wept,  or  laughed,  all  Ireland  applauded,  or 
cursed,  or  wept,  or  laughed  with  him.  His  maimer  must  have  been  overwhelmingly 
magnetic.  A  gentleman  who  heard  him,  described  to  me  O'Connell's  wonderful  adaptation 
to  the  style  of  his  audience.     Appearing  before  a  rough,  out-door  crowd  one  day,  he  began 


THE    WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


477 


his   address    by    saying:     "How    are    you,    boys?       And    how    fare    the    women     who 


There  are  no  Irishmen  now  as  prominent  as  were  the  great  men  above  mentioned. 
But  if  the  time  should  come  that  demanded  the  service  of  such  men,  they  would  spring  up 
from  the  peat  beds,  and  out  of  the  pavements  of  Liiuerick  and  Ballycastle,  all  armed  with 
pen,  or  sword,  or  speech,  for  the  emergency.  The  Lord  does  not  sharpen  His  weapons  till  He 
Avants  to  use  them.  They  are  all  read}'  to  be  put  upon  the  grindstone  of  battle  or  national 
controversy  as  soon  as  needed.  No  oppression,  no  Robert  Emmet ;  no  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence, no  Patrick  Henry;  no  Austrian  outrage,  no  Louis  Kossuth  ;  no  American  Revolu- 
tion, no. Washington  ;  no  Waterloo,  no  W^ellington  ;  no  Warren  Hastings'  career,  no  Edmund 
Burke's  nine-day  speech  ;  no  Catholic  emancipation,  no  fiery  Daniel  O'Connell.  It  is  absurd 
to  tliink  that  all  the  patriotism  and  courage  of  the  world  have  died  out  with  the  heroes  of 
the  last  generation.  Tread  on  them,  abuse  them,  maltreat  them,  drive  them  to  the  wall,  and 
see  if  the  Irish  of  1895  will  not  fight  as  well  as  their  illustrious  ancestr\-. 

This  island  has  for  me  a  complete  fascination.  Most  travelers  writing  of  it  give  their 
chief  time  to  describing  its  destitution,  but  they  would  tell  a  different  story  if  they  would 


OUEEXSTOWN    HARBOR,    IRF.LAND. 

only  compare  the  Ireland  of  to-day  with  the  Ireland  of  one  hundred  years  ago.  Ireland  of 
to-day  is  a  paradise  compared  with  what  it  once  displayed  of  drunkenness,  dueling,  gambling, 
and  public  violence.  Not  only  the  students  of  colleges  went  into  bloody  encounters,  but 
professors.  Hutchinson,  the  provost  of  a  college,  challenged  and  fought  Doyle,  a  master  in 
chancery,  and  the  provost's  son  fought  Lord  ^vlountmorris.  Dueling  clubs  were  established 
— no  one  allowed  to  be  a  member  until  he  had  killed  some  one  or  tried  to  do  so.  At  hotels 
weapons  were  kept  for  guests,  in  case  the\-  wanted  to  amuse  themselves  by  killing  each 
other.  On  one  occasion  while  two  were  in  duel,  some  one  said,  "  For  God's  sake,  part 
them  !  "  "  No,"  said  the  other,  "  let  them  fight  it  out ;  one  will  probably  be  killed  and  the 
other  hanged  for  the  murder,  and  society  will  get  rid  of  two  pests." 

A  gentleman  seated  at  a  hotel  table  had  a  covered  dish  passed  to  him  from  a  gentleman 
at  another  table.  The  cover  lifted  from  the  dish  revealed  smoking  potatoes.  After  a  while 
another  dish  was  handed  on  ;  the  cover  lifted,  it  revealed  a  loaded  pistol,  and  the  dinner 
hour  ended  in  manslaughter. 

All  this  fondness  for  dueling  has  passed,  and  in  Ireland  those  who  save  life  are  more 
admired  than  those  who  take  it.     It  is  less  than  a  centurv  ago  when  ruflSanism  rode  dominant. 


47S 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


If  there  were  a  fair  daughter  in  a  household,  there  was  not  a  moment  of  domestic  safety. 
Companies  of  bandits  would  attack  the  mansion  and  carr)'  off  the  female  prize,  and  if  in 
accomplishing  this  it  were  necessary  to  kill  the  father  and  brother,  the  achievement  was 
considered  all  the  more  brilliant,  and  the  courts  were  slow  to  punish.  While  there  were 
penalties  threatened  against  such  theft  of  household  treasures,  the  law  was  evaded  by 
putting  the  female  on  the  horse  of  the  bandit,  and  he  rode  behind  so  that  it  might  be  said 
she  took  him  instead  of  his  taking  her.  In  this  way  the  mansions  and  the  castles  of  the 
princely  were  dishonored,  and  the  men  foremost  in  such  outrages  were  greeted  and 
admired  as  heroes,  and  walked  aboiit   in  pretentious   uniform — top  boots  and   red   waist- 


VIEW   OF   hAKU   KILL.^RNEV,    IRELAND, 

coats,  lined  with  lace.  Such  men  now  wouid  find  short  pilgrimage  to  the  prisons  of 
Ireland. 

A  century  ago  Ireland's  literature  was  depraved  to  the  last  degree  of  indecency.  The 
most  popular  song  of  the  day  was  descriptive  of  a  prison  scene  the  night  previous  to  public 
hanging,  and  was  entitled  "  The  Night  Afore  Larry  Was  Stretched."  Now  each  city  of 
Ireland  has  its  eminent  authors.  Many  of  the  newspapers  and  magazines  are  administrative 
of  elevated  literary  and  moral  taste.  A  Belfast  or  Dublin  shorthand  writer  can  take  down 
a  speech  as  rapidly  as  the  stenographer  of  a  London  or  New  York  paper. 

A  century  ago  the  amusements  of  the  Irish  people  were  cruel  and  barbarous.  Bull- 
baiting  was  in  high  favor,  the  crowds  looking  on  approvingly  while  the  bull,  fastened  to  a 
ring  with  a  rope  furnished  by  "the  mayor  of  the  ring,"  would  be  teased  by  the  dogs,  and 
thev  in  turn  bruised  and  tormented  until  sometimes  a  broken  leg  of  the  dog  would  have  to  be 
cut  off  so  that,  with  the  three  remaining  legs,  it  might,  unimpeded,  goon  with  the  savagery. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


479 


The  public  executions  were  one  of  the  popular  amusements.  The  hangman  would 
appear  in  grotesque  apparel,  a  mask  on  his  face  and  a  huge  hump  on  his  back.  One  of 
these  hangmen,  Tom  Galvin  by  name,  was  particularly  celebrated  for  his  hanging  drollery. 
Nothing  affronted  him  so  much  as  the  pardon  of  a  criminal  whom  he  expected  to  have  the 
privilege  of  hanging.  He  would  indignantly  exclaim  :  "It's  a  hard  thing  to  be  taking  the 
bread  out   of  tlie  mouth  of  an  old  man  like  me."     Tom  Galvin,  the   hangman,  lived  until 


BLARNEY    CASTLE,  SHUWING    BLARNEY   STONE., 


recently,  and  when  called  upon  b\-  curious  people  would  take  the  old  rope  with  which  he 
used  to  hang  prisoners  and  put  it  slyly  around  the  neck  of  the  unsuspecting  visitor,  giving  it 
a  sudden  pull  that  would,  by  way  of  joke,  turn  the  visitor  black  in  the  face. 

All  these  styles  of  amusement  have  left  Ireland,  and  crowded  concert-halls,  and  costly 
picture  galleries,  and  jaunting  cars  carrying  the  people  out  into  the  country  for  "an  airing,'* 


4So 


THE    EARTH    GIRDLED. 


suggest  that  while  Ireland  may  not  be  as  good  and   happy  as  we  woidd  wish,  it  is  far 
better  and  happier  than  in  olden  times. 

Ireland  of  a  century  ago  had  a  character  wliich  illustrated  the  villain)-  of  his  time. 
"  Tiger  Roche,"  as  he  was  called,  was  as  bad  as  he  was  brave,  and  as  mean  as  he  was 
generous.  Indeed  he  was  a  mixture  of  impossibilities.  He  attracted  Lord  Chesterfield  by 
his  suavity,  and  frightened  the  mountaineers  with  his  ferocity.  He  was  spoiled  by  the 
caresses  of  the  great,  and  instead  of  availing  himself  of  the  grand  opportunities  opened  before 


FiNGAL's  cavf;. 


him  went  to  work  to  see  how  much  infamy  he  could  achieve.  He  crossed  to  Canada  and  joined 
the  Indians  in  their  warfare  against  the  white  population,  was  charged  with  stealing  a  rifle, 
and  utterly  disgraced.  Then  he  gave  his  life  to  wreaking  vengeance  on  the  heads  of  his 
slanderers.  He  returned  to  Ireland  where  he  was  being  restored  to  favor,  when  the  slander 
of  the  stolen  rifle  reached  the  "  Emerald  Isle."  But  the  thief  who  stole  the  rifle  died,  and 
in  his  dying  moments  confessed  himself  the  criminal.  Soon  "  Tiger  Roche "  becomes 
leader  in   the  attempt   to   put  down    Dublin    ruffianism.      The  law  breaker  becomes  the  law 


THE   WORLD   AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


481 


executor.  Then  he  aspires  to  the  hand  of  an  heiress  witli  a  very  large  income,  but  before 
the  day  of  marriage,  Ijecause  of  his  large  expenditures  of  money,  he  is  thrown  into  prison. 
He  falls  under  the  crushing  misfortune,  but  rises  again  till  he  gets  the  nomination  for 
Parliament,  but  he  declines  the  nomination.  He  becomes  fascinated  with  another  heiress, 
gets  her  property  and  spends  it  till  she  and  her  mother  have  to  retire  in  penury.  He  sailed 
for  India,  but  on  shipboard  quarreled  with  the  captain  and  so  was  turned  in  to  mess  with 
the  common  sailors.  Getting  on  shore  he  watched  for  the  captain  with  murderous  intent, 
and  the  captain  was  found  one  morning  dead  with  nine  stabs  in  his  left  side.  "  Tiger  Roche  " 
fled  to  the  Cape.  Pursued  there,  he  fled  to  Bombay.  There  he  was  caught,  taken  back  to 
England  and  through  some  technicality  of  the  law,  acquitted.  After  all  he  died  a  natural 
death,  although  every  day  for  three-fourths  of  his  life  was  a  robbery  of  the  gallows.  We 
can  hardly  imagine  such  a  character  in  Ireland  to-day.     He  was  applauded  and  imitated. 


ETON    COLLEGE,   NEAR    WIND.SOR    CASTLE. 


But  law  and  order  are  as  thorough  to-day  in  Ireland  as  in  an>'  nation  under  the  sun.  The 
Presbyterians  of  the  North  and  the  Catholics  of  the  South  hate  each  other  with  a  complete 
hatred,  but  the  only  war  is  a  war  of  words. 

Grievous  wrongs  is  Ireland  suffering,  but  her  wrongs  will  be  righted.  Better  than  she 
was  in  the  past,  she  will  be  far  better  in  the  future.  An  Irishman  has  held  the  highest 
legal  position  in  England.  The  voice  of  Ireland  is  potent  in  the  councils  of  Great 
Britain.  Her  desolations  will  be  furrowed  into  harvests  of  civilization  and  Christian 
prosperity.  Peace  upon  Ireland  !  May  her  wounds  be  healed,  and  her  hunger  fed,  and 
her  woes  alleviated  ! 

31 


482  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

Leaving  to  other  articles  the  stories  of  her  inountains  and  cities  as  they  now  are,  we 
conclude  with  the  jraet's  apostrophe  : 

' '  Great,  glorious  and  free, 
First  flower  of  the  earth,  and  first  gem  of  the  sea  !" 

* 
*       * 

The  Irish  Channel  treated  lis  better  than  it  treats  most  people.  It  la}'  down  quietly 
till  we  got  over  it.  In  the  calm,  bright  noon  we  landed.  But  your  first  step  in  Ireland 
reminds  you  of  her  sufferings.  Within  sight  of  where  you  land  to  take  the  cars  for  Belfast 
is  the  place  where  the  Catholics  were  driven  into  the  sea  by  their  persecutors,  and  where 
nine  hundred  monks  were  murdered  by  the  Danes. 

No  country  has  ever  endured  more  sorrows  than  Ireland.  But  as  you  roll  into  Belfast 
you  are  cheered  by  a  scene  of  prosperity.  Belfast  is  the  Chicago  of  Ireland.  This  city 
presented  by  James  I.  to  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  as  an  "  insignificant  village,"  now  has  two 
hundred  and  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  and  all  sails  set  for  further  progress.  She  makes 
enough  linen  to  provide  table  coverings  and  surplices  and  undergarments  for  all  the 
world.  By  an  expenditure  of  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  she  has 
made  her  harbor  easy  of  access  to  immense  shipping.  The  thrift  of  the  city,  with  the 
exception  of  occasional  depressions,  is  unprecedented  in  Ireland.  The  people  are  kind, 
hospitable,  enthusiastic,  and  moral.  Her  multitude  of  churches  and  religious  institutions 
has  had  its  evident  effect  on  the  population.  Her  monuments,  banks,  colleges,  and  bridges 
absorb  the  traveler's  attention. 

"  Spanning  the  Lagan  now  we  have  in  view 
The  great  Long  Bridge  with  arches  twenty-two." 

Belfast  has  an  array  of  very  talented  preachers.  Her  pulpit  is  second  to  no  city  under 
the  sun.  The  churches  are  large  and  thronged.  Her  literary  institutions  have  the  ablest 
professorships,  and  the  longest  roll  of  students.  If  I  wanted  to  live  in  Ireland  and  had  my 
choice,  I  would  live  in  Belfast. 

Thence  you  will  run  up  to  Londonderrx — a  walled  city,  historical  down  to  its  last  brick. 
You  feel,  as  you  enter  the  city,  that  you  have  passed  out  of  this  century  into  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  you  hear  the  guns  of  siege  thundering  against  the  walls.  For  one  himdred 
and  five  days  the  assault  lasted,  till  cats  and  dogs  were  attractive  food  to  the  starving 
inhabitants.  Walker,  the  minister  of  the  place,  proved  himself  a  patriot,  and  harangued 
the  people  to  courage  and  endurance.  A  high  monument  has  been  raised  to  perpetuate  his 
memory.  Two  thousand  three  hundred  people  died  from  the  siege.  So  that  the  glory  of 
the  city  is  the  glory  of  its  majestic  and  Christian  suffering.  Ay  !  ay  !  it  is  always  so. 
Nothing  is  won  by  man,  or  church,  or  community,  or  nation,  but  through  fire. 

In  the  outskirts  of  this  city  was  the  famous  agricultural  school,  and  on  arriving  I 
immediately  asked  for  Templemoyle.  Thackeray  describes  it  as  the  most  wonderful  school 
in  all  the  world.  He  liked  it  better  than  Eton.  He  said,  after  writing  "  Templemoyle,'' 
forty-seven  years  ago :  "  There  are  at  this  present  writing  five  hundred  boys  at  Eton, 
kicked  and  licked,  and  bullied  by  another  hundred,  scrubbing  shoes,  running  errands  and 
making  false  concords,  and  still  calling  it  education  !  "  Then  he  describes  how  superior 
this  agricultural  school  was  to  all  that,  the  doctor's  bill   for  seventy  pupils  amounting  to 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


483 


thirty-five  shillings  per  year.  The  boys 
o'clock  a.  m.,  and  to  have  for  breakfast 
made  in  stirabout,  and  one  pint  of  sweet 
was  printed  at  the  beginning  of  the  ses- 
hnngry  to  think  of  the  sparseness  of  it. 
school,  one  man  told  me  it  had  "  gone 
it  had  "gone  np."  But  all  agreed  in  the 
suppose  that  school,  like  many  other  in- 
bv  too  many  rules.  Templemoyle  is  in 
matter  of  history.  Walking  around  the 
can  look  off  into  the  far  past,  and  see  the 
back  King  James,  making  themselves 
their  courage  is  handed  down  from  age 
shanks,  Alexander  Irving,  James  Stewart, 
Coningham,  William  Cairns,  Samuel 
man  dies  well  when  he  dies  in  the  defence 
countrv.  You  take  a  short  run  by  cars 
place  on  earth — the  Giant's  Causeway, 
as     bv     mathematical      calculation.        A 


were  to  rise  at  5.30 
eleven  ounces  of  oatmeal 
milk.  The  bill  of  fare 
sion,  and  it  makes  me 
When  I  asked  about  the 
down,"  and  another  that 
fact  that  it  had  gone.  I 
stitutions,  had  been  killed 
private  hands,  and  a  mere 
ramparts  of  the  city  >ou 
apprentice  boys  driving 
immortal,  for  the  roll  of 
to  age — William  Crook- 
Robert  Morrison,  John 
Harvey,  and  others.  A 
of  his  home,  city  or 
and  reach  the  strangest 
The  rocks  here  are  cut 
man  is  a   fool   who    can 


STOKE    POGIS  CHlTtCH    AND    CH^■R^;H-^■A  K 1  ■    "1      iVKAVS    l-l.l.r.v. 


4S4 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


look  at  these  rocks  and  not  realize  that  the  world  had  a  design  and  a  Designer.  Was 
it  nothing  but  chance  that  made  them  octagonal,  hexagonal,  pentagonal?  There  are 
thirty-five  thousand  columns  of  rock  more  wonderful  than  all  the  sculptors  and  architects 
of  the  ages  could  have  hewn  them.  Here  are  rocks  called  the  Chimney  Tops,  which  the 
Spanish  Armada  in  the  fog  took  for  the  towers  of  Dunluce  Castle,  and  blazed  away  at,  but 
got  no  answering  cannonade  save  the  echo  of  the  everlasting  hills.  Here  is  what  is 
called  the  "  Giant's  Organ,"  because  the  rocks  resemble  the  pipes  of  that  monarch  of  musical 
instruments.  I  would  like  to  stand  by  this  Giant's  Organ  during  a  thunderstorm  and  hear 
the  elements  play  on  it  the  Oratorio  of  the  Creation. 

Here  also   is  the  "Giant's  Amphitheatre,"  the   benches  of  rock  extending  round   in 


NORTH    FRONT,    WINDSOR   CASTLE. 

galleries  above  each  other,  suggesting  a  fit  audience  room  for  the  gathering  of  the 
Judgment  Day. 

We  got  into  a  boat  and  with  six  oarsmen  rowed  out  on  the  sea  and  hence  into  two  of 
the  caverns  where  the  ocean  rolls  with  a  grandeur  indescribable.  The  roof  of  the  Dun- 
kerry  Cave  is  pictured,  and  frescoed,  and  emblazoned  by  the  hand  of  God.  It  is  sixty  feet 
high  above  high-water  mark.  As  the  boat  surges  into  this  cavern  you  look  round,  wonder- 
ing whether  there  are  enough  oarsmen  to  manage  it.  A  man  fires  a  pistol  that  we  may 
hear  the  report  as  loud  in  that  cavern  as  the  heaviest  crash  of  an  August  thunderstorm. 
You  swing  round  for  a  few  moments  in  that  strange  temple  and  then  come  forth  with  an 
impression  that  you  will  carry  forever.  There  can  be  no  power  in  time  or  eternit}-  to 
efface  that  stupendous  memory.  The  rustic  guides  talk  to  you  with  the  ease  of  a  geologist 
about  feldspar  and  hornblende,  and  basalt,  and  trap  rock.  . 

Before  you  die  )oa  must  see  the  Giant's  Causeway.  You  go  to  look  at  a  celebrated 
lake,  but  you  have  seen  other  lakes.     You  go  to  look  at  a  high  mountain,  but  you  have 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY.  485 

seen  other  mountains.  Yon  go  to  see  a  great  cit}-,  but  you  have  seen  other  cities.  You  go 
to  see  a  famous  tree,  yet  you  have  seen  other  trees.  But  there  is  nothing  like  the  Giant's 
Causeu^ay.  It  stands  alone  and  aside  from  all  geological  wonders.  The  painter  tries  to 
sketch  it  and  gives  it  a  ten-pin  alley  appearance,  the  ten-pins  just  set  up.  There  is  no 
canvas  high  enough,  no  pencil  skillful  enough,  no  genius  mighty  enough  to  adequately 
present  this  ciiriosity.  Ireland  might  well  have  been  built,  if  for  nothing  but  to  hold  the 
Giant's  Causeway. 

How  do  they  account  for  this  causeway  ?  It  seems  that  a  Scotch  giant  was  in  quarrel 
with  an  Irish  giant,  and  the  Scotch  giant  told  the  Irishman  that  he  would  come  over  and 
give  him  a  severe  trouncing  if  it  were  not  for  getting  his  feet  wet  in  the  sea. 

The  Irish  giant  was  spoiling  for  a  fight,  and  so  built  a  road  across  to  Scotland.  Then 
the  Scotchman  crossed  over,  and  the  Irishman  punished  him  for  his  impudence  with  a 
shillalah.  As  time  went  by  the  High  Road  across  the  sea  sank,  leaving  only  the  present 
remains  called  the  Giant's  Causeway. 

But  instead  of  this  tradition,  which  says  the  road  was  built  to  let  two  belligerents 
cross  over  and  meet  each  other  in  combat,  I  think  it  was  built  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
the  human  mind  to  cross  over  from  earth  to  heaven.  It  lifts  us  among  the  sublimities.  I 
imagine  that  this  is  the  last  pillar  of  the  earth  that  will  give  wa}-.  After  the  roof  of  the 
world  has  fallen  in,  and  the  capitals  of  the  mountains  shall  have  crumbled,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  the  earth  has  sunk,  these  gray  columns  shall  run  their  grandeur  across  the  desolation, 
and  these  organ  pipes  of  basalt  sound  forth  the  dirge  of  a  dead  and  departed  world. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 


ON    THE  HOME-STRETCH. 

BIFTEEN  hmidred  miles  from  Europe  ;  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  America. 
Steamer  City  of  Paris^  of  ten  thousand  five  hundred  tons.  A  company  of  passen-- 
gers,  intelligent  and  genial,  and  groups  of  female  beauty,  a  very  flower  garden. 
Yet  condensation  of  all  discomforts — rough  nearly  all  the  way,  making  the  nights 
almost  sleepless  and  the  days  dismal.  Yet  I  am  "  homeward  bound."  I  have  traveled  on 
this  journey  around  the  world,  at  least  forty  thousand  miles,  for  it  has  not  been  a 
direct  journey,  but  much  of  it  zigzag,  and  up  and  down  many  countries.      It  has  been 

arduous      beyond 
description. 

Would  I  advise 
others  to  take  it  ? 
By  no  means,  unless 
they  have  endur- 
ance and  patience 
and  courage  well 
developed.  No  one 
can  realize  how  big 
the  world  is  nor 
how  much  energy 
it  takes  to  circum- 
navigate it  Then 
there  are  so  many 
exposures  that  no 
one  unless  in  estab- 
lished and  robust 
health,  ought  to 
undertake  it.  We 
crossed  the  tropics 
HNGLAND.  twice,     and     went 

from  summer  to  winter  and  from  winter  back  again  to  summer,  and  exchanged 
palm-leaf  fans  for  overcoats,  and  went  from  ninety  degrees  heat  to  almost  freezing 
point.  We  rode  in  cold  cars  without  any  stoves,  and  stayed  in  hotels  where  stoves 
had  never  been  seen  and  fireplaces  were  unknown.  Then  there  are  all  the  perils 
of  the  sea,  dangers  of  collision,  and  conflagration,  and  hurricane,  and  hidden  rock.  Then 
there  are  the  possibilities  of  broken  bridges,  and  misplaced  switches,  and  mistakes  of 
telegraphy  during  fourteen  thousand  miles  of  railroad  travel.  In  India  cholera  was  only 
three  weeks  ahead  of  us,  and  fevers  were  all  around  us.  Change  of  water,  or  places  where 
the  drinking  of  water  is  suicide  to  a  traveler.  Fruits  with  germs  of  disease  in  them. 
Atmosphere  surcharged  with  malaria. 

(4S6) 


BALLIOL   COLI.i:c,i:,    oXliiKIi 


THE  WORLD   AS  SEEN   TO-DAY. 


487 


I  am  glad  beyond  expression  that  I  took  the  journey,  but  no  inducement  excejit  the 
discharge  of  plain  duty  could  ever  start  me  again  on  such  a  circumlocution.  The  opportu- 
nities of  mental  enlargement  are  infinite.  Such  a  journey  opens  a  thousand  more  doors 
of  knowledge  than  can  ever  be  entered.  It  reveals  religions,  and  displays  customs,  and 
exposes  superstitions,  and  makes  in  one's  mind  a  map  of  nations  that  no  books  can  so  fully 
give.  Go  if  you  have  health  to  stand  it,  and  can  put  to  practical  use  that  which  j'ou 
acquire  by  the  process.  Do  not  undertake  it  for  restoration  of  health,  unless  you  want  to 
help  occupy  some  foreign  cemetery.  Do  not  undertake  it  with  the  idea  of  pleasure,  as 
when  you  go  aboard  a  yacht,  or  pack  your  trunk  for  a  summer  watering-place,  or  call  up 
the  hounds  for  a  deer  hunt  in  the  Adirondacks,  lest  you  waste  your  time,  and   money,  and 


BANK  OP  ENGLAND,  LONDON. 

patience  on  a  planetary  failure.  To  cross  the  Pacific,  and  Southern,  and  Indian,  and 
Bengal,  and  Arabian,  and  Red,  and  Mediterranean,  and  Atlantic  seas  is  a  work  so  great 
that  it  ought  to  be  well  understood  before  starting. 

The  work  is  done,  and  I  have  an  emotion  of  gratitude  that  cannot  be  expressed  by  any 
■vocabulary.  The  ocean  is  a  great  liar.  It  says  :  "  Come  aboard  the  ship.  I  will  rock  you 
in  what  the  poet  appropriately  called  the  '  cradle  of  the  deep.'  I  will  pass  you  to  other 
continents  on  pavements  of  sapphire.  Did  you  ever  see  a  richer  blue  than  that  with  which 
I  dye  my  depths  ?  Did  you  ever  see  a  richer  lace  than  that  into  which  I  weave  my  billows  ? 
Did  you  ever  see  a  gayer  plume  than  the  feathery  foam  with  which  I  adorn  ray  crests  ?  Did 
you  ever  hear  a  more  devotional  psalm  than  that  which  I  chant  for  the  voyagers?  Step 
aboard.     I  am   mild   and   beautiful  and   trustworthy.      Such  beautiful   sea  charts  in  the 


488 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


captain's  room  !  Such  exquisite  compass  to  tell  the  ship's  bearings  !  Such  dining-rooms  of 
plush,  and  upholster\',  and  tables  all  aglitter  with  opulent  cutlery  and  ruddy  with  fruits, 
and  asmoke  with  the  best  food  from  land  and  sky  and  billow  !  All  aboard  for  Melbourne,  or 
Calcutta,  or  Brindisi,  or  Liverpool !  "  But  twenty-four  hours  afloat,  and  her  smiles  are 
exchanged  for  frowns,  and  her  dining-rooms  are  occupied  by  a  few  forlorn  passengers 
holding  on  to  plates  to  keep  them  from  capsizing,  and  your  trunks  go  skating  up  and  down 
the  room  and  you  wish  yourself  ashore,  and  pronounce  the  ocean  a  liar.  It  would  like  to 
scare,  to  starve,  to  drown  3'ou.  The  greatest  fun  the  ocean  ever  has  is  a  shipwreck.  But 
neither  the  voyage  by  sea  nor  the  journey  by  land  did  me  any  damage.  Not  one  accident  in 
all  the  way  by  land  or  sea.     Not  a  wound  so  much  as   the  scratch  of  a  pin. 

I   was  impressed  with   two  things  on  the  journey.     One  was,  how  big  the  world  is. 
Such  wildernesses  of  water,  so   that  I  have  been  about  seventy  days  on  the  sea !     Such 


CRVSTAI,   PALACE,    SYDENHAM. 

infinitude  of  land,  occupied  and  unoccupied  !     A  vast  world.      An  astronomical, immensity. 
If  there  had  been  no  other  world  it  would  have  done  quite  well  for  a  Universe. 

My  other  impression  was,  how  small  the  world  is.  Around  it  so  soon.  The  distances 
all  the  time  abbreviated  by  fleeter  rail  trains  and  swifter  steamships.  And  in  all  the  journey 
I  have  not  been  a  moment  be>ond  the  bounds  of  my  parish.  In  all  the  cities,  towns, 
neighborhoods,  and  railroad  stations,  old  friends,  though  we  had  never  before  met.  Men 
and  women  who  said  that  I  had  more  to  do  with  their  moral  and  spiritual  destiny  than  I 
could  ever  imagine.  I  thought  that  I  had  found  one  exception  at  a  railroad  station  in  India 
where  we  stopped.     But  as  I  got  out  of  the  carriage  a  man  stepped   up  and  called  me  by 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


489 


name,  saying  that  he  hoped  he  was  not  mistaken,  and  after  I  had  assured  him  I  was  the 
man  he  spoke  of,  he  said  :  "  Now  I  can  die  in  peace  ;  I  have  seen  yon.  Many  years  ago  at 
Madras  I  first  met  your  gospel  message."  All  of  which  makes  me  want  to  get  back  again 
into  my  own  study  at  home  and  get  to  making  sermons. 

I  shall  soon  be  looking  for  land.  Yea,  as  I  resume  writing  this  chapter,  the  American 
shore  appears.  "  Now  that  you  have  seen  so  many  countries,  what  do  you  consider  the 
best  place  to  live  in?"  I  answer  with  all  the  emphasis  that  I  can  command  :  "  The  United 
States  of  America."  Had  it  not  been  so  there  would  have  been  three  hundred  thousand 
Americans  moving  into  Europe  instead  of  three  hundred  thousand  Europeans  moving  into 
America. 

Have  you  realized  our  superior  blessings  atmospheric  ?  Have  you  thought  of  the  fact 
that  the  most  of  the  millions  of  the  human  race  are  in  climates  frigid  or  torrid  or  horrid  ? 


LAW   COURTS,    LONDON. 

Take  up  the  map  of  the  world  and  thank  God  that  }'ou  are  so  far  off  from  Arctic  icebergs 
on  the  one  side  and  seven -feet-long  cobras  on  the  other.  For  what  multitudes  of  the  human 
race  life  is  an  Arctic  expedition!  Underground  huts.  Immeasurable  barrenness.  Life  a 
prolonged  shiver.  Our  front-door  steps  on  a  January  night  genial  compared  with  their 
climate.  Ask  some  of  the  Arctic  explorers  about  the  luxuries  of  life  around  the  North 
Pole.  Instead  of  killing  so  many  brave  men  in  Polar  expeditions,  we  had  better  send 
messengers  to  persuade  those  pale  inhabitants  of  polar  climes  to  say  good-bye  to  the  eternal 
snows  and  abandon  those  realms  of  earth  to  the  walrus  and  white  bear,  and  shut  up  those 
gates  of  crystal,  and  come  down  into  a  realm  where  the  thermometer  seldom  drops  below 


490  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

zero.  Oh  the  beauties  of  Baffin's  Bay,  only  six  weeks  in  the  year  open  !  What  a  delightful 
thing  when  in  those  Arctic  regions  they  milk  their  cows,  and  milk  onl>-  ice  cream.  Let 
all  those  who  live  between  thirty  and  fifty  degrees  of  north  latitude  thank  God,  and  have 
sympathy  for  the  vast  populations  of  both  hemispheres  who  freeze  between  sixty  and  eighty 
degrees  of  latitude.  Then  compare  our  atmosphere  with  the  heated  air  infested  with  rep- 
tilian and  insectile  life  in  which  most  of  the  human  race  suffer.  Think  of  India  and  China 
and  Ethiopia.  Travelers  tell  you  of  the  delicious  orange  groves,  but  ask  them  about  the 
centipedes.  They  tell  of  the  odor  of  the  forests,  but  ask  them  about  the  black  flies.  They 
tell  you  about  the  rich  plumage  of  the  birds,  but  ask  them  about  the  malarias.  They  tell 
you  about  the  fine  riders,  but  ask  them  about  the  Bedouins  and  bandits.  They  tell  you 
about  the  broad  piazzas,  but  ask  them  about  the  midnights  with  the  thermometer  at  an 
insufferable  one  hundred  and  ten.  Vast  cities  of  the  torrid  clime  without  sewerage,  without 
cleansing,  packed,  and  piled  up  wretchedness  and  all  discomfort.  What  beautiful  hvenas ! 
What  fascinating  scorpions  !  What  sociable  tarantulas  !  What  captivating  lizards  !  What 
wealth  of  bugs !  What  an  opportunity  to  study  comparative  anatonu-  and  herpetology  !  What 
a  chance  to  look  into  the  open  countenance  of  the  pleasing  crocodile  !  Hundreds  of  millions 
of  people  in  such  surroundings.  I  would  rather  live  in  one  of  our  American  cities  in  a  house 
with  two  rooms  than  to  live  in  the  torrid  lands  and  own  all  ]\Iexico,  all  Brazil,  all  Hindo- 
stan,  all  Arabia,  all  China.  In  other  words,  I  would  rather  live  between  thirty  and  fifty 
degrees  of  latitude  and  own  nothing  than  to  be  between  ten  and  thirty  degrees  of  latitude. 
Thirty  years  of  life  in  America,  or  a  corresponding  latitude,  are  worth  more  than  eighty  years 
of  life  anywhere  else.  We  have  the  furs  of  the  Arctic  and  the  fruits  of  the  Torrid  with  all 
the  pleasurable  respiration  of  the  Temperate.  God  seems  to  say,  "  Come  down  North  wind 
with  a  tonic,  and  come  up  South  wind  with  a  balm,  and  mix  a  healthful  draught  for  the 
lungs  of  this  nation  !  " 

Again,  there  is  not  a  land  where  wages  and  salaries  are  so  large  for  the  great  masses 
of  the  people.  In  India  four  cents  a  day  and  find  yourself  is  good  wages.  In  Ireland,  in 
some  parts,  eight  cents  a  day  for  wages,  in  England,  a  dollar  a  day  good  wages — vast  popu- 
lations not  getting  as  nuich  as  that.  In  other  lands  fifty  cents  a  day  and  twenty-five  cents 
a  day  clear  on  down  to  starvation  and  squalor.  An  editor  in  England  told  me  that  his  salary 
was  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  and  he  seemed  satisfied  !  Look  at  the  great 
populations  coming  out  of  the  factories  of  other  lands,  and  accompany  them  to  their  homes, 
and  see  what  privation  the  hard-working  classes  on  the  other  side  the  sea  suffer. 

The  laboring  classes  in  America  are  ten  per  cent  better  off  than  in  any  other  country 
under  the  sun — twenty  per  cent,  forty  per  cent,  fifty  per  cent,  seventj-'five  cent.  The  toilers 
■with  hand  and  foot  have  better  homes  and  better  furnished.  I  do  not  write  an  abstraction. 
I  know  what  I  have  seen.  The  stone  masons  and  carpenters  and  plumbers  and  mechanics 
and  artisans  of  all  styles  in  America  have  finer  residences  than  the  majority  of  professional 
men  in  Europe.  You  enter  the  laborer's  house  on  our  side  the  sea  and  you  find  upholstery 
and  pictures  and  instruments  of  music.  His  children  are  educated  at  the  best  schools. 
His  life  is  insured,  so  that  in  case  of  his  sudden  demise  the  family  shall  not  be  homeless. 
Let  all  American  workmen  know  that  while  their  wages  may  not  be  as  high  as  they  would 
like  to  have  them,  America  is  the  paradise  of  industry. 

Again,  there  is  no  land  on  the  earth  where  the  political  condition  is  so  satisfactory  as  in 
ours.  Every  three  years  in  the  State  and  every  four  years  in  the  nation  we  clean  house. 
After  a  vehement  expression  of  the  people  at  the  ballot-box  in  the  autumnal  election,  they 
all  seem  satisfied,  and  if  they  are  not  satisfied,  at  any  rate  they  smile. 


UK.    TALMAGKS    l-ARKWKl.I,    MMiTINC,    AT    HVIil-,    lAKK. 


(49O 


492 


THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 


An  Eiiglishinaii  asked  me  in  an  English  rail-train  this  question  :  "  How  do  you  people 
stand  it  in  America  with  a  revolution  every  four  years?  Wouldn't  it  be  better  for  you,  like 
lis,  to  have  a  queen  for  a  lifetime  and  everything  settled?"  England  changes  government 
just  as  certainly  as  we  do.  At  some  adverse  vote  in  Parliament  out  goes  Disraeli  and  in 
comes  Gladstone,  out  goes  Gladstone  in  comes  Salisbury,  out  goes  Salisbury  and  in  comes 
Gladstone  again,  or  Lord  Roseber}-,  or  out  goes  Rosebery  and  in  comes  Salisbury. 
Administrations  change  there,  but  not  as  advantageously  as  with  us,  for  there 
they  may  change  almost  any  day,  while  with  us  a  party  in  power  continues  in  power  four 
years. 

It  is  said  that  in  our  country  we  have  more  political  dishonesty  than  in  any  other  land. 
The  difference  is  that  in  our  country  almost  every  official  has  a  chance  to  steal,  while  in 
other  lands  a  few  people  absorb  so  nnich  that  the  others  have  no  chance  at  appropriation. 
The  reason  they  do  not  steal  is,  they  cannot  get  their  hands  on  it!     The  governments  of 


CONWAY    CASTLE,    NORTH   WALES,    ONE   OE   THE    NOBLEST   CASTELLATED   STRUCTURES   IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Europe  are  so  expensive  that  after  the  salaries  of  the  royal  families  are  paid  there  is  not 
much  left  to  misappropriate. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  has  a  nice  little  salary  of  $8,210,000.  The  Emperor  of  Austria 
lias  a  year]\-  salary  of  $4,000,000.  Victoria,  the  Queen,  has  a  salary  of  $2,200,000.  The 
royal  plate  of  St.  James'  Palace  is  worth  $10,000,000.  The  Queen's  hairdresser  gets  $10,000 
a  year  for  combing  the  royal  locks,  while  the  most  of  us  have  to  comb  our  hair  at  less  than 
half  that  expense,  if  we  have  any  to  comb  ! 

Over  there,  there  is  a  host  of  attendants,  all  on  salaries,  some  of  them  $5000  and 
$6000  a  year.  Master  of  Buck  Hounds,  $8500  a  year.  Grand  Falconer,  $6000  a  year. 
(I  translate  pounds  into  dollars.)  Gentlemen  of  the  Wine  and  Beer  Cellars,  Controller  of 
the  Household,  Groom  of  the  Robes,  Mistress  of  the  Robes,  Captain  of  Gold  Stick,  Lieuten- 
ant of  Silver  Stick,  Clerk  of  the  Powder  Closet,  Pages  of  the  Back  Stairs,  Maids  of  Honor, 
Master  of  Horse,  Chief  Equern,',  Equerries  in  Ordinary,  Crown  Equerry,  Hereditary 
Grand    Falconer,  Vice    Chamberlain,  Clerk   of  the   Kitchen,   Master  of  Forks,  Grooms  in 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


493 


Waiting,  Lords  in  Waiting,  Grooms  of  the  Great  Chamber,  Sergeant  at  Arms,  Barge  Master 
and  Waterman,  Eight  Bedchamber  Women,  Eight  Ladies  of  the  Bedchamber,  Ten  Grooms 
of  the  Great  Chain,  and  so  on,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitnm,  ad  nauseam. 

All  this  is  onI\-  a  type  of  the  fabulous  expense  of  foreign  governments.     All  this  paid 
out  of  the  sweat  and  the  blood  of  the  people.     Are  the  people  satisfied  ?     However  much 


ST.    JAMES    PALACE,    LONDON. 

the  Germans  like  William,  and  the  Spaniards  like  their  young  King,  and  England  likes  her 
splendid  Queen,  these  stupendous  governmental  expenses  are  built  on  a  groan  of  dissatisfac- 
tion as  wide  as  Europe.  If  it  were  left  to  the  people  of  England,  of  Germany,  of  Austria, 
of  Spain,  of  Russia,  whether  these  expensive  establishments  should  be  kept  up,  do  you  doubt 
what  the  vote  would  be  ? 


494 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


Now,  is  it  not  better  that  we  be  overtaxed  and  the  surplus  be  distributed  all  over  the 
land  among  the  lobby  men,  and  that  it  go  into  the  hands  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
people — is  there  not  a  better  chance  of  its  finally  getting  down  into  the  liands  of  honest 
people,  than  if  it  were  all  built  up,  piled  up,  inside  a  garden  or  palace? 

Again,  the  monopolistic  oppression  is  less  in  America  than  anywhere  else.  The  air  is 
full  of  protest  because  great  houses,  great  companies,  great  individuals  are  building  such 
overtowering  fortunes.  Stephen  Girard  and  John  Jacob  Astor,  stared  at  in  their  time  for 
their  august   for-  tunes,  would  not  now  be  pointed  at   in  the  streets  of  Phila- 

York  as  anything  remarkable.  These  vast  fortunes  for 
piuchedness  of  want  for  others.  A  great  protuberance  on 
implies  the  illness  of  the  whole  body.  These  estates  of  dis- 
weaken  all  the  body  politic.  But  the  evil  is  nothing  with 
the  monopolistic  oppression  abroad.  Just  look  at  their 
tablishments.  Look  at  those  vast  cathedrals  built  at  fabulous 
ported  by  great  ecclesiastical  machinery  at  vast  expense,  and 
audience  room  that  would  hold  a  thousand  people,  twenty 
gather  for  worship.  The  Pope's  income  is  eight  million 
drals  of  statuary  and  braided  arch,  and  walls  covered  with 
Rubens  and  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo;  against  all  the 
walls  dashing  seas  of  poverty  and  crime  and  filth  and  abom- 
ination.    Ireland   to-daj'  one  vast  monop- 


delphia  or  New 
some  i  m  p  1  y 
a  man's  head 
proportioned  size 
us  compared  with 
ecclesiastical  es- 
expense  and  sup- 
sometimes  in  an 
or  thirty  people 
dollars.  Cathe- 
masterpieces     of 


olistic  devastation.  About  forty-five  mil- 
lions of  people  in  Great  Britain  and  yet  all 
the  soil  owned  by  about  thirty-two  thou- 
sand. Statistics  enough  to  shake  the 
earth.  Duke  of  Devonshire  owning 
niuetv-six  thousand  acres  in  Derby.  Duke 
of  Richmond  owning  three  hundred  thou- 
sand acres  at  Gordon  Castle.  Marquis  of 
Breadalbane  going  on  a  journey  of  one  hun- 
dred miles  in  a  straight  line,  all  on  his  own 
property.  Duke  of  Sutherland  has  an  estate 
as  wide  as  Scotland,  wdiich  dips  into  the  sea 
<>n  both  sides.  Bad  as  we  have  it  in 
America,  it  is  a  thousand  times  worse  there. 
Beside  that,  if  in  America  a  few 
fortunes  overshadow  all  others,  we  must 
remember  there  is  a  vast  throng  of  otlier 
people  being  enriched,  and  this  fact  shows  the  thriftiness  of  the  country.  It  is  estimated 
that  there  are  over  si.x  thousand  millionaires  in  the  United  States.  In  addition  to  this, 
you  nnist  remember  that  there  are  successes  on  less  extended  scales.  Tens  of  thousands 
of  people  worth  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  scores  of  thousands  worth  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  each.  Yea,  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  on  their 
way  to  fortunes.     They  will  either  be  rich  themselves  or  their  children  will  be  rich. 

If  I  should  leave  to  some  men  the  question:  "Will  you  have  a  fortune  and  your 
children  struggle  on  through  their  lives  in  the  struggle  you  have  had  to  make — will  you 
have  the  fortune,  or  would  you  rather  that  they  should  have  the  fortune  ?"     Scores  of  men 


NKL.SON  S    MUNUMK.NT,  TRAFA1.<;aR    SOUARF,    I.iiMkiN. 


THE   WORLD   AS   SEEN   TO-DAY. 


495 


would  sa\'  :  "  I  am  willing  to  figlit  this  battle  all  the  way  through  and  give  my  children  a 
chance  ;  I  don't  care  so  much  about  myself;  it's  only  for  ten  or  twenty  years,  anyhow  ;  give 
m\-  children  a  chance."  If  anything  stirs  my  admiration  it  is  to  see  a  man  without  any 
education  himself  sending  his  sons  to  college,  and  without  any  opportunity  for  luxury 
himself,  resolved  that  though  he  shall  have  it  hard  all  the  days  of  his  life,  his  children 
shall  have  a  good  start.  And  I  tell  you,  although  some  of  our  people  may  have  great  com- 
mercial struggle,  there  is  going  to  be  a  great  opening  for  their  sons  and  daughters  as  they 
come  on  to  take  their  places  in  society.      Beside  that,  the  domains  of  Europe  and  Asia  are 


ROOM    IN    WHICH    SHAKESPEARE   WAS   BORN. 


already  full.  Every  place  occupied,  unless  it  be  desert  or  volcano  or  condemned  barren- 
ness, while  in  America  we  have  plenty  of  room,  and  the  resources  are  only  just  opening. 
In  other  lands,  if  fortunes  fatten,  they  must  fatten  on  others  ;  but  with  us  they  can  fatten 
out  of  illimitable  prairies  and  out  of  inexhaustible  mines. 

We  have  only  just  begun  to  set  the  Thanksgiving  table  in  our  country.  We  have  just 
put  on  one  silver  fork,  and  one  salt  cellar,  and  one  loaf  of  bread,  and  one  smoking  platter. 
Wait  until  the  fruits  come  in  from  all  the  orchards,  and  the  meats  from  all  the  markets, 
and  the  vegetables  from  all  the  gardens,  and  the  silver  from  all  the  mines,  and  the  dinner 


496  .  THE   EARTH    GIRDLED. 

bell  rings,  saying:  "  Come  and  dine.  Come  all  the  people  from  between  the  two  oceans. 
Come  from  between  the  Thousand  Isles  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     Come  and  dine  !" 

Again  !  our  nation  is  more  fully  at  peace  than  any  other.  At  least  fifteen  million  of 
men  belong  to  the  standing  armies  of  Europe  to-day.  Since  we  had  our  conflict,  on  the 
other  side  the  sea  tiiey  have  had  Zulu  war,  Afghan  war,  Egyptian  war,  Russo-Turkish 
war,  German-French  war,  Japan-Chinese  war.  No  certainty  about  the  future.  All  the 
governments  of  Europe  watching  each  other,  lest  one  of  them  get  too  much  advantage. 
Diplomacy  all  the  time  nervously  at  work.  Four  nations  watching  the  Suez  Canal  as 
carefully  as  four  cats  could  watch  one  rat. 

In  order  to  keep  peace,  intermarriages  of  royal  families;  some  bright  princess  compelled 
to  marry  some  disagreeable  foreign  dignitary  in  order  to  keep  the  balance  of  political  power 
in  Europe,  the  illy  matched  pair  fighting  out  on  a  small  scale  that  which  would  have  been 
an  international  contest,  sometimes  the  husband  holding  the  balance  of  power,  sometimes 
the  wife  holding  the  balance  of  power.  One  unwise  stroke  of  Gladstone's  pen  after  Garnet 
Wolseley  had  captured  Tel-el-kebir,  and  all  Europe  would  have  been  one  battlefield. 
Crowded  cities,  crowded  governments,  crowded  learned  institutions,  crowded  great  cities 
close  by  each  other. 

You  get  in  the  cars  in  America,  and  you  ride  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles ;  then  you  come  to  a  great  city,  as  Philadelphia,  as  Albany,  as  Boston. 
I  got  on  the  cars  at  Manchester,  and  closed  my  eyes  for  a  long  sleep  before  I  got  to 
Liverpool.  In  forty  minutes  I  was  aroused  out  of  sleep  by  some  one  saying,  "  We  are  here  ; 
this  is  Liverpool."  The  cities  crowded.  The  populations  crowded,  packed  in  between  the 
Pyrennes  and  the  Alps,  packed  in  between  the  English  Channel  and  the  Adriatic,  so 
closely  they  cannot  move  without  treading  either  on  each  other's  heels  or  toes.  Sceptres 
clashing ;  chariot  wheels  colliding.  The  nations  of  Asia  and  Europe  this  moment 
wondering  what  next.  But  on  our  continent  we  have  plenty  of  room  and  nobody  to  fight. 
Eight  million  square  miles  in  North  America  and  all  but  one-seventh  capable  of  rich  culti- 
vation, implying  what  fertility  and  what  commerce !  Four  great  basins  pouring  their 
waters  into  the  Atlantic,  Pacific,  Arctic  and  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Shore  line  of  twenty-nine 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixt^-nine  miles.  The  one  State  of  Texas  with  more  square 
miles  than  all  France,  than  all  Germany. 

That  our  continent  might  have  plenty  of  elbow  room  and  not  be  jostled  by  the  effete 
governments  of  Europe,  God  sank  to  the  depths  of  the  sea  a  whole  continent  that  once 
ran  from  off  the  coast  of  Europe  to  the  coast  of  America — the  continent  of  Atlantis — which 
allowed  the  hiunan  race  to  pass  from  Europe  to  America  on  foot,  with  little  or  no  shipping; 
that  continent  dimly  described  in  history,  but  the  existence  of  which  has  been  proved  by 
archteological  evidences  innumerable ;  that  whole  continent  sunken  so  that  a  fleet  of  Ger- 
man, British  and  American  vessels  had  to  take  deep  sea  soundings  to  touch  the  top  of  it ; 
that  highway  from  Europe  to  America  entirely  removed  so  that  for  the  most  part  only  the 
earnest  and  the  persevering  and  the  brave  could  reach  America  and  tliat  through  long  sea 
voyage. 

Governments  on  the  southern  tip  of  this  continent  are  gradually  coming  to  the  time 
when  they  will  beg  for  annexation.  On  the  other  hand  beautiful  and  hospitable  Canada, 
the  vast  majority  of  the  people  tliere  are  more  republican  than  monarchial  in  their  feelings, 
and  the  chief  difference  between  them  and  us  is  that  they  liv^e  on  one  side  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  we  on  the  other.  The  day  will  come  when  Canada  will  be  found  waiting  for  our 
government  to  j^ropose  marriage,  and  when  we  do  so,  she  will  look  down  and  blush,  and, 


(497) 


498 


THE  EARTH  GIRDLED. 


thinking  of  her  allegiance  across  the  sea,  will  say  :  "  Ask  mother."  Peace  all  over  the 
continent,  and  nothing  to  fight  about.  What  a  pity  that  slavery  is  gone !  While  that  lasted 
we  had  something  over  which  the  orators  could  develop  their  muscles  of  vituperation  and 
calumny. 

We  are  so  hardly  put  to  it  for  military  demonstration  that  guns  and  swords  and  cannon 
were  called  out  a  few  years  age  to  celebrate  the  bi-centeunial  of  W^illiam  Penn,  the  peaceful 
Quaker  for  whom  a  gun  would  never  have  been  of  any  use  e.xcept  to  hang  his  broad-brim 
hat  on.  Oh,  what  shall  we  do  for  a  fight  ?  Will  not  somebody  strike  us  ?  We  cannot 
draw  swords  on  the  subject  of  civil  service  reform,  or  free  trade,  or  "corners"  in  wheat. 
Oiir  ships  of  war  are  cruising  around  the  ocean  hoping  for  something  interesting  to  turn  up. 
Sumter  and  Moultrie  and  Pulaski  and  Fortress  Monroe  have  not  spoken  in  twentj-nine 


SPURGEON'S   TABERNACLE. 

years.  Gunpowder  out  of  fashion,  and  not  even  allowed  the  juvenile  population  on  Fourth 
of  July.     Fire  crackers  a  sin. 

America  is  struck  through  and  through  with  peace.  There  is  hardly  a  Northern 
city  where  there  are  not  Confederate  generals  in  its  law  offices  or  commercial  establishments 
or  insurance  companies.  There  you  sit  side  by  side — you  who  wore  the  blue  and  you  who 
wore  the  gray — you  who  kindled  fires  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Potomac  in 
the  winter  of  1862 — you  who  followed  Stonewall  Jackson  toward  the  North  and  \ou 
who  followed  General  Sherman  toward  the  South.  Why  are  you  not  breaking  each  other's 
lieads  ? 

Ah  !  you  have  irreparably  mixed  up  your  politics.  The  Northern  man  married  a 
Southern  wife,  and  the  Southern  man  married  a  Northern  wife,  and  your  children  are  half 
Mississippian  and  half  New  Euglander,  and  to  make  another  division  between  the  North 
and  the  South  possible  you  would  have  to  do  with  your  child  as  Solomon  proposed  with  the 
child  brought  before  him   in  judgment ;  divide  it  with  the  sword,  giving  half  to  the  North 


THE  WORLD  AS  SEEN  TO-DAY. 


499 


and  half  to  the  South.  No  !  there  is  nothing  so  hard  to  split  as  a  cradle.  Intermarriage 
will  go  on  and  cousanguineal  ties  will  be  multiplied,  and  the  question  for  generations  to 
come  will  be,  how  we  people  in  America  got  into  such  an  awful  wrangle  and  went  to 
di^^ingr  such  an  awful  grave  trench. 

Aeain  !  we  have  a  better  climate  than  in  anv  other  nation.  We  do  not  suffer  from 
anything  like  the  Scotch  mist  or  the  English  fogs  or  from  anything  like  the  Russian  ice 
blast  or  from  the  awful  t}-phus  of  Southern  Europe  or  the  Asiatic  cholera.  Epidemics  in 
America  are  exceptional — ver}-  exceptional.  Plenty  of  wood  and  coal  to  make  a  roaring 
fire  in  winter  time.  Easy  access  to  sea  beach  or  mountain-top  when  the  ardors  of  summer 
come  down.  Michigan  wheat  for  the  bread,  Long  Island  corn  for  the  meal,  New  Jersey 
pumpkins  for  the  pies,  Carolina  rice  for  the  queen  of  puddings,  prairie  fowl  from  Illinois, 
fish  from  the  Hudson  and  the  James,  hickory  and  hazel  and  walnuts  from  all  our  woods, 


NEW   YORK   BAY,  CASTLE   GARDEN'   AND   STATUE   OF   LIBERTY. 

Louisiana  sugar  to  sweeten  our  beverages,  Georgia  cotton  to  keep  us  warm,  oats  for  the 
liorses,  carrots  for  the  cattle,  and  oleomargarine  butter  for  the  hogs  !  In  our  land  all  products 
and  all  climates  that  yoir  may  desire. 

Are  your  nerves  weak  and  in  need  of  bracing  up  ?  Go  North.  Is  your  throat  delicate 
and  in  need  of  balmy  airs  ?  Go  South.  Do  you  feel  crowded  and  want  more  room  ?  Go 
West.  Almost  anything  you  want  you  can  have.  Plenty  to  eat,  plenty  to  wear,  plenty  to 
read. 

Yes !  yes !  I  have  seen  the  world  for  myself,  and  I  come  home  more  in  love  with 
America  than  ever  before. 

What  a  delightful  time  this  noon  to  be  sailing  up  the  New  York  Harbor  !  The  fact  is, 
I  am  afraid  of  the  sea.  Few  people  confess  it,  but  I  must  confess  it.  With  few  exceptions 
it  has  treated  me  well.  But  this  Atlantic  voyage  is  one  of  the  exceptions.  So  also  was  the 
shaking  up  we  got  the  first  night  out  from  San  Francisco,  and  the  last  night  before  reaching 


500  THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 

New  Zealand,  and  the  voyage  from  there  to  Australia.  I  admire  the  sea  when  I  stand  on 
shore  and  look  at  it,  bnt  when  sailing  upon  it  and  watching  some  of  its  paroxysms  of  rage, 
its  billows  seem  like  so  many  raving  monsters  ready  to  devour.  At  Calcutta,  at  the  Zoolog- 
ical Garden,  I  saw  the  Bengal  tigers  and  heard  them  growl,  and  saw  them  paw  the  iron  bars 
in  effort  to  get  at  us.  Yet  they  were  caged,  and  there  was  no  danger.  But  the  ocean  is  one 
hundred  thousand  Bengal  tigers,  and  they  run  their  paws  up  the  side  of  the  sliip  and  say  : 
"  Why  take  those  people  into  New  York  Harbor?  Give  them  to  us  !  You  must  think  that 
ocean  billows  are  never  hungry  !  How  we  would  like  with  our  long  tongues  to  lick  their 
blood  !  Gi\'e  us  that  ocean  steamer  !  "  Yes,  I  am  afraid  of  the  ocean.  Were  it  not  for 
the  entertaining  sights  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  and  the  enlargement  foreign  travel 
gives  to  the  traveler,  I  would  never  step  on  board  a  ship.  The  only  part  of  an  ocean 
voyage  I  enjoy  is  going  ashore,  and  I  shall  soon  have  that  opportunity.  Yet  this  I  write 
on  board  as  grand  a  steamer  as  ever  with  its  screw  bored  its  way  through  the  Atlantic ; 
a  steamer  commanded  b\'  Captain  Watkins,  than  whom  no  more  competent  or  affable  officer 
ever  trod  the  ship's  bridge  in  a  cyclone  ;  a  steamer  in  which  all  the  appointments  are  so  com- 
plete that  I  cannot  think  of  a  possible  improvement.  The  Bible  says  a  thing  which  exactly 
suits  me  where  it  prophesies  the  arrival  of  a  time  when  "  there  shall  be  no  more  sea." 
I  should  like  to  preach  its  funeral  sermon,  but  it  will  take  a  big  cemetery  to  hold  the 
dead  Atlantic,  and  the  dead  Pacific,  and  the  dead  Mediterranean,  and  the  dead  Indian 
Ocean. 

Through  the  narrows  and  into  New  York  Harbor.  Sandy  Hook  even  looks  beautiful : 
I  think  I  must  be  a  poor  sailor.  .Statue  of  Liberty'  still  holding  its  torch  on  one  side. 
Stateu  Island  with  its  wealth  of  comfortable  homes  on  the  other.  Fort  Lafayette  and  Fort 
Hamilton  with  their  dogs  of  war  chained  and  their  lions  of  terror  sound  asleep  on  their  iron 
paws.  New  Jersey  over  there,  the  place  of  my  cradle.  Long  Island  over  there,  the  place 
of  my  grave.  Between  the  shores  the  great  sapphire  pathway  of  nations.  The  mammoth  ship- 
on  which  we  sail  but  one  of  w-hole  fleets  of  vessels  which,  bearing  all  flags  from  all 
nations,  have  floated  here.  What  innumerable  keels,  wooden,  or  iron,  or  steel,  have  plowed 
here  for  what  harvests  of  commercial  ingathering  !  What  foreign  "  men-of-war  "  in  Revolu- 
tionary times  passing  up  to  sink  at  Hell  Gate  !  Up  this  bay  have  come  what  patriots  from 
all  lands  ;  what  escaped  captives  of  all  tyrannies ;  what  friends  and  coadjutors  from  all 
zones — Lafayette,  Kosciusko  and  Kossuth!  ]Mighty  New  York  Harbor !  Every  curve  of 
its  shores  ;  every  shimmer  of  its  waves ;  every  toss  of  crystalline  brightness  from  the  cut- 
water of  its  shipping,  suggesting  the  prosperities  of  the  past  and  the  greater  prosperities  of 
the  future.  Glorious  New  York  Harbor !  This  is  the  thirteenth  time  I  ha\-e  entered  it 
from  transatlantic  voyage,  but  it  never  looked  so  inviting  as  to-day  ;  perhaps  because  I  am 
home-sick  after  the  longest  absence  of  a  lifetime.  But  it  does  seem  as  if  the  banks  were 
more  graceful,  and  as  if  the  sunlight  had  threads  more  golden,  and  as  if  the  breath  of  the 
orchards,  and  gardens,  and  fields  were  more  aromatic,  and  as  if  the  clouds  now  hovering 
had  charioteers  more  richly  attired  to  guide  them.  Yes,  there  are  the  spires  of  the  old 
churches  where  many  generations  have  worshiped.  There  are  the  storehouses  where  the 
merchants  of  other  days  bartered.  There  are  the  streets  along  which  the  beau.x  and  belles 
of  this  century,  when  it  was  young,  walked,  and  smiled,  and  coquetted.  And  there  is  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  throwing  its  arm  from  city  to  city  as  sister  links  her  arm  in  the  arm  of 
sister.  Lovely  New  York  Harbor!  Happy  be  all  the  hearts  that  sail  over  it !  Welcome 
all  the  be-stormed  crafts  that  seek  its  shelter!  Blown  to  atoms  be  all  the  foreign  war 
shipping  that  shall  put  its  accursed  prows  into  its  now  peaceful  waters  ! 


(50I) 


5oa 


THE   EARTH   GIRDLED. 


And  now  my  long  journey  is  ended.  I  have  girdled  the  earth  with  travel,  and  am  at 
Ihe  front  steps  down  which  I  came  on  the  night  of  May  fourteenth,  to  start  on  my  journey 
around  the  world.  How  different  the  emotions  with  which  I  ascend  them  from  the  emotions 
with  whicli  I  descended  them.  Then  the  journey  was  before  me  ;  now  the  journey  is 
behind  me.  Then  it  was  good-bye  ;  now  it  is  welcome.  The  door  is  opened,  and  I  pass 
in  and  am  at  home,  the  brightest  place  on  earth.  During  my  journey  I  have  been  in  larger 
dwellings,  and  amid  costlier  tapestry,  and  amid  more  expensive  pictures,  and  under  grander 
arches,  but  in  my  memory  they  all  fall  into  insignificance  compared  with  this  abode.  Every 
room  associated  with  some  scene  of  domestic  life.  This  one  a  birthplace  ;  that  one  a  bridal 
arch  ;  another  a  death  chamber ;  and  for  seventeen  years  associated  with  stirring  experiences 


SLEEPING   ROOM    AT   DR.  T.\I.MAGE"S   HOME. 

in  which  sunshine  and  shadows  have  chased  eacli  other.  Cowper  sang  the  praises  of  the 
sofa  ;  if  I  were  a  poet  I  would  put  into  rhythm  these  chairs,  and  tables,  and  family  pictures. 
But  as  I  enter  after  long  sojourn  they  all  chime  their  own  rhythm  ;  they  all  ring  their  own 
cantos ;  they  all  speak  their  own  salutations.  Honre !  It  is  a  charmed  word.  Through 
that  one  syllable  thrill  untold  melodies,  the  laughter  of  children,  the  sound  of  well-known 
foot-steps,  and  the  voices  of  undying  affection.  Home !  I  hear  in  that  word  the  ripple  of 
meadow  brooks  in  which  knee-deep  we  waded,  the  lowing  of  cattle  coming  up  from  the 
pasture,  the  sharp  hiss  of  the  scythe  amid  thick  grass,  the  creaking  of  the  hay  rack  "where 
we    trampled    down    the   load.      Home !      Upon  that   word   there    drop    the   sunshine   of 


THE  WORLD  AS  vSEEN  TO-DAY.  503 

boyhood,  and  the  shadow  of  tender  sorrows  and  the  reflection  of  ten  thousand  fond  memories. 
Home !  When  I  see  it  in  book  or  newspaper,  that  word  seems  to  rise  and  sparkle  and 
leap  and  thrill  and  whisper  and  chant  and  pray  and  weep.  It  glitters  like  a  shield.  It 
springs  up  like  a  fountain.  It  trills  like  a  song.  It  twinkles  like  a  star.  It  leaps  like  a 
flame.  It  glows  like  a  sunset.  It  sings  like  an  angel.  And  if  some  lexicographer,  urged 
on  by  a  spirit  from  beneath,  should  seek  to  cast  forth  that  word  from  the  language,  the 
children  would  come  forth  and  hide  it  under  garlands  of  wild  flowers,  and  the  wealthy 
would  come  forth  to  cover  it  up  with  their  diamonds  and  pearls ;  and  kings  would  hide  it 
under  their  crowns,  and  after  Herod  had  hunted  its  life  from. Bethlehem  to  Egypt,  and 
utterly  given  up  the  search,  some  bright  warm  day  it  would  flash  from  among  the  gems,  and 
breathe  from  among  the  flowers,  and  toss  from  among  the  coronets,  and  the  world  would 
read  it  bright,  and  fair,  and  beautiful,  and  resonant  as  before.  Home  !    Home  !    Home ! 


A  BURMESE   BELLE. 

Burmah,  like  Siam,  its  close  neighbor,  is  the  land  of  the  White  Elephant  and  of  other  strange  conceits  in  social  customs  as 
well  as  religion.  The  illu'stration  above  represents  a  young  lady  of  the  aristocracy,  clothed  in  the  most  costly  and  fashionable 
raiment  of  the  period.  A  habit  among  these  people,  especially  prevalent  among  rich  ladies,  is  that  of  chewing  the  betel-nut, 
■which  colors  the  teeth  a  jet  black,  and  a  majority  ol  them  are  also  inveterate  cigarette  sniokeis. 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Travel 
G440 
.T15 
1896 


:^i5 »-  >  .  W" 


